Snow!

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Our weather forecasts are rarely accurate, so we weren’t concerned about an impending snowstorm. Several people around the US asked if we were ready for the storm that was not yet on our radar. It hit. There were a few flakes Saturday morning, lots of drizzles, and finally real snow after 5:30. Power went out at 11, and we got it back about 18 hours later. Our church in Asheville was closed, and I’m sure a huge percentage of other churches in the area were shut tight. Roads, if passable at all, would have been treacherous. John is a drive-through-anything person, and he said we weren’t leaving the house. We found out later that trees fell across the road near the stop sign, and neighbors Bob and Jeff walked there and cleared the road. Our heroes!!!

We are blessed to have a generator that runs a few outlets around the house, and we had hot water. Water is not taken for granted here, because you need electricity to run the well pump. After dressing in my warmest clothes, I made pumpkin soup in the microwave. We were ready for the day. Logan and his parents, Shawn and Bob, came over to huddle with us. Neighbor Joyce joined us later. We used our collection of throws and flax warmers to keep from shivering. Not knowing how long the power would be off, we didn’t use our gas fireplace. If the house had gotten colder, we would have turned it on. We were able to make coffee and hot chocolate, with no takers for tea. Conversation never flagged, and two worked on a jigsaw puzzle. I don’t know how long they stayed, maybe four pleasant hours.  There were no unpleasant moments.

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Bob, Logan, Shawn, John, Joyce.  Curtains block drafts from the doors.

Bob left to help a neighbor start a generator, and the rest of us played balloon. We told Logan to get a new balloon, and he asked his mother to tie it. Logan and I are not good at that. Balloon is an active game that never fails to warm me up. Adults sat on chairs, and Logan was EVERYWHERE. John claims Logan could play a fierce game of toss and return all by himself.

As daylight faded, everyone went home. That’s when the power came back on. I became concerned when John didn’t come in from shoveling snow. He was still shifting the wet mess. That’s when I realized how much he missed New York weather. He cleared our driveway and was shoveling the street!

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Christmas lights were again visible at Logan’s house.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

36 thoughts on “Snow!”

  3. Some consider your weekend a hardship. I wouldn’t living on your road. We’re on a private well here too. After two outages last year I now store distilled h2o bottles and fill empty bleach jugs. I can cope with anything as long as I can flush the toilet.

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  5. What a day for activity and bonding and building relationships. I shiver to think of what you would have done had you been colder – maybe you have a wood fire place. John enjoyed his snowy day activity- does he miss New York so much ? Glad you all had enough supplies of food and drink to tide the snowy weather over.
    Susie

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    1. If I had gotten cold by myself, I would have washed dishes, done some exercises, or crawled into bed. As it was, I stayed on the move. We have only a propane fireplace in the NC house. John has recreated his life here, getting heavily involved in church and train activities. I’m still in retirement mode.

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  6. That’s the best way to spend the time. I bet Logan is counting on no school tomorrow… or I should say today, as you are ahead of me by several hours. We had a well in AL, so I know what you mean about needing to power that.

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    1. I’m sure Logan knew on Sunday that there would be no school on Monday. Maybe we could get our of our neighborhood in an emergency, but it would be better not to try. Joyce next door said she is snowbound and will work from home.

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  7. It sounds like you had a super neighborly time with all your visitors and a game of balloon with Logan. I’m sure the snow is pretty but equally sure people would prefer to be able to drive so I hope it goes away soon, very sorry John.
    Enjoy your new week
    xxx Snowflake Hugs xxx.

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    1. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t ask if they wanted to sing Christmas carols. That would have been a low-tech activity. We have some small carol books, as well as multiple copies of our hymnbook.

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  9. Glad to hear that you were ready for the storm and were able to share that with neighbors. It really does pay to have those emergency items on hand even if they sit around not being used most of the time.

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    1. If the power had not been restored, we would have needed more toilet paper. Ours were the only toilets with running water. Neighbors didn’t stress our system in any way, but we could have run short of paper. Well, they would have noticed, wouldn’t they? They would have BTO, brought their own.

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        1. We had a good supply of TP for two, but six could have taken it down quickly. There was never a rush on the bathrooms, although we would have understood if there had been. This shows my talent of worrying in reverse.

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