We survived the two blizzards, and record-setting cold, with little discomfort, other than the constant anxiety that we would lose power, or our pipes would freeze.
All of the feral cats disappeared when it got really bad.
One by one, most of them have re-appeared. There's only one we haven't seen yet. Even the elders have shown up.
This does our hearts a world of good, to know that they didn't freeze to death. That was, sadly, a distinct possibility.
There are a couple of houses around us that have open crawl space entries... we're thinking they sheltered under those houses.
We got a total of 14 inches of snow, and the record breaking cold temperature of -17F, with wind chills of -30F. We had high temperatures that were either just barely above 0F, or below 0F.
Many friends had water pipes burst, despite their best efforts.
This region of the country does not have the infrastructure to deal with weather like this. People died.
Unlike Texas, our power grid didn't fail, but it came damned close, so rolling black outs were instituted. For some reason, our area was never blacked out.
If it had been, our pipes may have frozen as well.
As it was, we left water running 24/7 (not just dripping), and we were okay.
The worst issue we had was that the water pressure in the entire area dropped to near nothing. This was due to 31 main breaks in the city alone, mostly on this side of town, and tripled water demand caused by everyone running their water, OR their pipes bursting!
The pressure dropped, but, thankfully, we could still leave a stream running to keep the pipes from freezing.
However, there was not nearly enough water pressure to operate our tankless water heater, and we were asked to conserve electricity, so we spent a lot of time in the candle light, with everything turned off that we could, and we had to skip showering for a couple of days.
We did dishes by heating water on the stove, and doing them in the sink, with a tiny trickle of ice cold water for the rinse.
Sponge baths like in the fall, only this time, we didn't have to do them by flashlight.
Water pressure has gradually come back up, and we were able to shower yesterday. I also did laundry, and Dave ran the dishwasher, so we are almost back to normal. The pressure is still low, but at least now, we can use the water heater. It just takes longer to rinse the conditioner out of my hair, HAHA.
I have to say, once again, that Dave is a master of preparation.... Two years ago, he insisted that we insulate the attic with our tax refund money.
In addition, he purchased crawl space covers that he installs in the late autumn every year. These keep the raging winter wind out of the open expanse under the house, where our above-ground water pipes are.
This makes our hardwood and tile floors a bit less cold in the winter, and protects our pipes.
He removes them in the spring, so that the rain water and other sources of moisture can evaporate in the hot weather.
Without these things, we surely would have had water pipe issues at the very least.
Our heating system worked hard, but it DID cycle off and on, instead of running constantly. We were comfortable in layers, and shoes instead of house slippers.
Unfortunately, replacing the windows in this 1927 house is an EXTREMELY expensive prospect. One quote we got was $23,000.00 But, Dave wants to get started on them anyway... one or two at a time, using a Lowe's credit card.
It will take years to complete, but it's probably necessary.
Anyway, I wore Dave's parka to shovel snow, and my hiking boots with cashmere socks, but my feet and hands got REALLY cold. Painfully cold.
Dave did a little shoveling, but I did most of it. He's got a heart stent, after all.
Thankfully, Amazon has sale prices on winter gear, and I went ahead and ordered myself a decent down parka and insulated boots. I may only need them once in a while, but now, I will be prepared with cold weather gear that fits me.
I had hoped they would come before the storm, but Amazon Prime no longer guarantees 2 day delivery like they used to. If they did, I would have gotten these things the day before the first storm. Oh well.
My packages arrived yesterday, when it was in the 40s out, and everything was starting to melt.
A friend also sent a care package with more long sleeved cotton t shirts for layering, and a polyester fill jacket and vest. I think she raided a thrift store, HAHA! I am so grateful that she went to the trouble.
So, we had scheduled this as a 4 day weekend, in hopes that we could get away from the house for an overnight or something...but instead, we have been home, getting errands done, and continuing to clear the melting snow.
The absolute isolation caused by the weather was really hard on me. Even the zoom dance classes were canceled, because people didn't have power or internet.
So, on Friday, the first day of our mini vacation, we got in the car, and took our chances of being able to get out of our neighborhood to a street that was clear.
Many of our resources are along one of the streets that they DO plow, so we headed out to do a few errands.
It took 2 hours, but it was 2 hours of NOT being locked in the house, and we only got caught up in the deep ruts of snow on our street once.
The stores were mostly deserted, so we didn't come into contact with others, except at the cash registers, where the checkers were on the other sides of plexiglass barriers, and everyone was masked.
Getting out did my mental health a WORLD of good.
Yesterday, Dave went out to get groceries, because our delivery service app isn't working yet again. He then took himself to a pub.
I was really mad about this because I am the one who goes stir crazy being cooped up in the house, and HE is FINE WITH IT.
Oh well.
All of the snow and ice is melting. Some streets are flooding, but it's clearing away pretty quickly for the most part.
Yesterday, our car port was full of 2 inch thick ice from the meltwater, but today it is just wet. The huge icicles are gone, and the street we live on is now mostly clear.
Today, it's going to be in the 40s again, but horribly windy. We might try to get the taxes done later, and then, tomorrow, it's supposed to be in the 50s. I am hoping to finally get out and take a walk.
I also need to go get my labs drawn at some point tomorrow, the last day of our little mini vacation, as I see my doctor on Wednesday.
Also have a bone density scan on Friday. I rescheduled it from last week, because I knew I wouldn't be able to get there on Thursday, after two blizzards!
We are EXCEEDINGLY grateful that we made it through this weather crisis so much more easily than the last one, but there is no doubt that I, at least, have a degree of PTSD from the events of the fall.
I can feel the anxiety melting away, like the snow and ice, the further we get away from the events of this week.
Wishing my readers warmth, comfort, and peace of mind.
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