The storm took forever to get here, but its clout was scattered. I saw photos from relatives east of me that showed snow covering the ground. There was no snow here. There was some rain during the night that I didn’t hear. I went to my church on line, where a mid-week service had been recorded to show today, in case weather kept the church closed. The tech showing it, from the comfort of his home, said the streets of Asheville were icy and dangerous.

On the weather map, all around my area the temperatures were 28 F (-2.22 C). Both of my outdoor thermometers showed 55 F (12.77 C). I was in a warm pocket!

Wind began to blow, with the intensity increasing rather quickly. The wind chimes and whirligigs flailed about in the garden. Slipping on gardening shoes, I rushed out to take them down. As I did, the wind roared on the nearest ridge and made the old oak tree dance. I don’t know that I’ve ever been outside in wind that heavy. I think I could have been frightened if I hadn’t been concentrating on the job at hand.

The background hum of the house changed as the heat pumps shut off and the generator came to life. The power was off! I texted neighbor Joyce, who is great at reporting our outages. I have the app for the power company, but I’ve never used it successfully. She soon sent me a screen shot from the company that said the estimated restore time was unknown and 109 accounts were affected. In a very short time – minutes, not hours – the power was on again! Amazing!!

I was writing this and stopped to enjoy the holiday lights on Holly’s house. Texting her, I told her how lovely they looked. She texted back that Logan was eating dinner with her, and she was sending him over with a bowl of her Cincinnati chili. A minute or so later he was at the door with the warm chili and extra cheese and onions. Wow! My neighbors are THE BEST!!

Temperatures are on the way down now and are forecast to be 6 F (-14.44 C) tomorrow night. I’m thankful the rain, snow, sleet, wind, and cold air didn’t hit all at once while the power was out.