...and it's not over yet!
If you did not get the chance to experience the Polar Vortex, I'm sure you heard about it. This past month has brought many weather events that have made headlines every day. I've come to learn that the events or happenings around the farm (including the weather) that make excellent blog material are also the things that keep us busy to the point of not having time to share it. So here are some pics of what we have dealt with this winter (so far).
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| Ice Storm 2013 |
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| Weeping willows in a sad sort of shape! |
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| The ice was beautiful at night, glowing on Christmas decorations. |
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| Having run on generator power for four days, it had to be checked often, even through the night. It was fun to read through all the text messages on Rick's phone (sent in the middle of the night), as he and his close farmer friends "talked" as they checked fuel levels and tractor temperatures. |
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| Looking to the North from the drive. |
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| During the "Polar Vortex" |
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| The pasture-although you can barely see it! |
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| From the North, headed home-earlier in the day, when it was till passable. |
Later that day (the 6th) our daughter had a fever that spiked at 105.5-while on both Motrin and Tylenol. I called the doctor's office, and they advised me to get her in there right away. At that point, the road and the driveway had blown shut with very high drifts, so big that Rick said there was no way he could clear a path to the main road in less than 2 hours, let alone the 45 minutes that I told the doctor it would take me to get there. So Rick made a phone call to the head of the road commission, with a cell phone number that not very many people have. Years ago we had a not-so-positive experience with this person, but in the end there was resolution. Because of that experience, we had the right phone number, and within 10 minutes the V-plow on the front of the road grater was passing by the house, throwing snow higher than the trees, making such a white powdery cloud you could barely see him. As if it was his own daughter. I nearly cried. On his second pass, Rick had made enough of a clearing that we could get out of the drive and down the road.
God makes all things work together for good.
So, we've had a couple of unexplained very high fevers, a slight ear infection, an upper respiratory, and currently Rick is under the weather-but we are so grateful. Our friends have brought wood, a tasty meal, we have the barn for the cows, the "grater guy" keeps the road plowed, and it looks like we'll be able to make it to church on Sunday for the first time since December 22nd.
This winter will be one for the record books-but in my book will be the greatness of God, family, and friends.
-Terri
