Friday, February 7, 2014

The Winter that Just Keeps on Giving

At least we saw the sun 
after receiving buckets of ice 
causing the 2nd worst power outages 
in Philadelphia Electric Company's history. 

The sun shines after the storm.
Thankful for Electricity
Doylestown, PA

Randomness:
 (1) This storm made me realize how ill prepared we are for a disaster.
(2) I will not become 'a prepper,' but I will keep flashlight batteries on hand.
(3) It is entertaining to watch out the window as branches fall off the trees,
at least when there is nothing else to do.
(4) I learned how to make a simple room heater out of
candles, a bread pan, and two terra cotta pots.
But that was after the electricity came back on.
I will be buying those supplies.
(5) I used to ridicule people for acting like shopping-nuts before a storm.
However, for this storm I had little gas in the car,
little food that did not need to be heated,
and no electricity in an entirely electric house.
There were no open gas stations or stores within the reach of my empty gas tank.
Next storm, I will join the crazies at the stores.

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25 comments:

MadSnapper said...

every post i have been today has the same thing, all snow and ice and cold... except for a few down here and in Southern CA ice/snow is the norm now...

Melissa Hopper said...

Your number 4 I tried it! Let me tell you now it will take a whole lot of it to make it warm. I could not even seem to get it to warm up my bathroom. I was a warm a few inches around it but that was it. If you have better luck let me know how you did it!!

lissa said...

I, too, isn't all that prepare but just when I do, it'll probably be spring. hope you have better luck.

have a great day.

James said...

Your photo really tells the icy story.
I'm glad that your power came back. I heard that a few hundred thousand still don't have power today. We were fortunate to only lose power for a few minutes.

Carmel said...

It's hard to image the snow ... when we are in total fire ban days for the next two days. Lovely image of your outside world.

nancyjean said...

oh you captured such a beautiful image of the ice on the trees...just lovely. But I am sure it must have been very difficult without power...and that cold... hope everything is restored and back to normal....spring is just around the corner!

Elizabeth Edwards said...

hey, that mill on your header shots, where is that located? lovely view. oh, no i hope you can get more prepared next time. big big hugs. ( :

Sarah Huizenga said...

Lessons learned and you will be prepared for the next storm which probably won't be for another 10 years.

diane said...

I am one of those "crazies" who go to the gas station before a storm hits and fill up my car and my cans for the snowblower.
LOL I'll have to try that heater thing ... hhmmmmm.
I hope Punx Phil is wrong and Spring comes sooner.
Stay toasty ... diane @ thoughts and shots

Molly said...

Sounds like a nightmare to me... and not having enough food or gas certainly makes things much worse. My daughter in law lives VERY close to you it would seem and they had to head out to stay with friends as they are on well water

Mollyxxx

Out on the prairie said...

Got caught in an ice storm while winter camping one year. It took 2 weeks to thaw so I could get my tent free. The branches were breaking all around and I woke up to what sounded like fireworks they were so loud.

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I went through a crazy ice storm a few years ago. Everything was without power in all surrounding towns -not even a store was open! The power outages lasted two weeks for some people!! And, like you, I had no gas and very little food in the house.

My Little Home and Garden said...

The glistening, ice-coated trees are reminiscent of those so prevalent here after a major ice storm in December. It was easier for me to appreciate their beauty given my power was out for only 13 hours rather than over a week for some in a nearby city.

Your image is striking, with the light piercing through the dark, moody sky.

Karen (Sunlit Sunday)

Mersad said...

I recently posted some images of the big snow storm here in Mostar in 2012, and my family and I had pretty much the same experience as you did. We have a fireplace, but since heat the house on air conditioning no wood. Electricity went out, we were cold and miserable. After the storm we bought chopped wood and are now ready. We were not prepared at all back then. No one in the city was. But disasters such as these teach you a lot :D

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Nancy said...

It is an eye opener when disaster hits and how ill-prepared we are. Lessons learned from nature. Thank you for joining in this week Rebecca. xo

Liz@ HomeandGardeningWithLiz said...

Oh boy that's no fun! My son lives on the West Chester area. They were out of power for abour 24 hrs but the grandparents still don't have their power yet. I hadn't thought much about having food items that don't require cooking but that's a good idea to think about. The little heater you learned to make sounds interesting.

Cindy said...

Can't be any fun. We have found a shortage of propane in North Carolina due to this cold weather and the fact that everyone is using more ofa heatingsupply. I was in Ontaio through the ice storm of 98 and was without power 17 days, wouldn't be so bad but we were in the country and had a septic and well.

~JarieLyn~ said...

It really sucks when the power goes out, especially when it's cold. I guess the good thing is that now you will be prepared for the next time and hopefully be able to stay warm either with candles or with the heater in the car or to be able to drive somewhere a little warmer. I'm glad your power came back on.

Karen said...

It's been a cruel winter. Neat shot!

Kerry said...

Oh gosh, I'm glad your power is back on. Ours was out most of the night, due to winter storm Orion. Luckily we have a wood stove & and a fireplace, plus an oil lamp and lots of candles. And natural gas which can be lit with a match. I also filled the bathtub with water before the power went out, just so we could flush the toilet. It pays to be prepared.

Roses, Lace and Brocante said...

I can't begin to imagine how different life would be without electricity in your desperately cold winter.
I live in a temperate climate so as long as we have candles we are OK.
Oh yes we do have a gas BBQ we can cook on and make a cup of tea!
Wonderful image of the sun shining through!
Visiting from Sunlit Sunday.

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

The ice storms are travelling around the continent. When we had ours in Ontario last month, people were without power for days but we were lucky and thankful not to lose ours.

Pamela Gordon said...

I love the photo. I'm sorry you had such a terrible storm there. I heard that some of the crews from our New Brunswick (Canada) Power utility were down there to help restore power. It's good to be prepared even when you're not used to it. Pamela

cedarmerefarm said...

Ice storms are the worst. It's scary to be without electricity when it's freezing outside and the roads are too slippery even to walk on. I am glad your electricity is back on.

Lorrie said...

Wow. That was some experience. This winter seems to be particularly brutal, except here on the West Coast. Glad you are safe and warm now. The snow on the branches is a beautiful image.