Back to the Pioneer Days

Nearly everyone I know has lost their power. (The news reports that there are nearly 700,000 homes and businesses without electricity in Oklahoma-the most ever.) Several of our friends are sleeping under loads of blankets with a fire burning in the fire place. Kim and Scott were lucky enough to get a hotel room and Tom and I had a major stroke of luck... Tom's mom lives in a small pocket of homes (about 5 square blocks) that still has power! We have been staying here and will be here until the power comes back on. The estimate is that the power will be fully restored in 7-10 days. What's amazing is that here at the southern edge of our city, we didn't even get the worst of it. Here are some pictures of the farm that Dad took. The ice accumulation looks to me like it was twice as thick out north. These pictures show trees that were planted when I was born, and the second one is a tree that was planted by dad and his brothers in the 50's. Mom and Dad are sleeping in a room with a stove, and using candles and flashlights to get around the freezing house. There is no hot water, no TV, no phones (except cell phones) no computer... quite a change from the life we have all been living. It's been a chance to step back and look at the way things used to be... and say......... thank God I live in the 21st century!!!! The good news is that we are all ok. Getting the trees removed will be a pretty big expense for a lot of people. A couple of friends actually had trees crash through roofs or into windows. But we are all safe with family, and as they say, that's what's most important. For some pretty pictures of the ice, check Kelly's blog.