Ice Storm

I got a phone call from one of my neighbors while I was away inquiring if our power had come back on. I listened to the message with a sinking feeling. I was unaware we had a problem and it was too late to call by the time I got the message. One of the other conference attendees mentioned an ice storm but she said it was in Massachusetts. I really hadn't given it any thought.

There was nothing on the ground as I drove north. There was nothing on the ground when I swung around the lake. But as I climbed the last 500 ft from the lake to the house, Holy Cow. Everything but the road was covered in a thick coating of ice. Apparently it was the last 500 feet in altitude that did it. I know I live in a micro-climate, but c'mon.



The storm started Thursday night and the power went out around 10p. There was no power all day on Friday, finally coming back on Friday night. I got home on Saturday around 4p and ice still coated everything. The trees are bent over, the forsythia is a glistening crystal sculpture bowed earthward, the barberries are frozen in ice. Many of the tops of trees and some of the arborvitae snapped with the weight. The sound of chainsaws echoed from the ridge tops on Sunday. We are still coated in ice as I write this, 3 days later.

There is nothing more beautiful than sunlight glistening on ice but it can be deadly.

Reverse 911

The phone rang in the dead of night. My sister picked it up just listening, expecting the worst. Isn’t it always bad at 3AM? The line was dead, yet when she queried Hello? A computer-generated voice identified itself as the Reverse 911 system. There was a tornado cell in her immediate area. She was advised to take cover. She stayed in bed, but flipped on the weather channel to see what was going on. Sure enough there was a red tornado cell over town but it passed north of them. An hour or so later, the phone rang again to announce the all clear.

I had never heard of this type of arrangement before. She said this was her first call. The entire county and maybe the whole state is using it. The amazing thing is that it can pinpoint the danger and call those in the area. I don’t know how this works if you don’t have a published phone number or if you only use a cell phone.

Interesting. Do you have this in your community? I don’t think we do.

On the Spit

Here I am in Alaska. I flew into Anchorage and rented a car to drive down to the Kenai peninsula. It was a 4 hour drive from Anchorage. The days are incredibly long up here, so I rolled in with daylight to spare. The first day in town, I tootled around to get my bearings and did a little birding on my own. The weather was spitting rain and cold. (Those leopard print silk long johns really came in handy). I wore 5 layers of clothing. Brrr. But, hey, it's Alaska. I rented an apartment over the Sealion gallery on the Homer Spit. (The spit is that sliver of land that sticks out into the bay.)


The scenery up here is unbelievably beautiful. This is the view from my balcony. I am able to watch the mountains change with the different weather patterns and light. The storm clouds roll in and are magnificant. Look at that sky!


But the next day the sunset is a pale cotton candy pink.


I couldn’t figure out why everybody who has been to Homer ends up taking so many pictures of scenery. But being here, I now get it. So, I am going to show you the view first to get it over with. If you still want more, go to my Flickr page in a few days. I'll post more there. I promise no more shots of my view.

It is so beautiful is it almost painful. I can't image living with this everyday.