A Long Update with a LOT of Ice

Things went a little haywire for me starting on Monday Jan 26.

That night we had the beginnings of one of the worst winter storms to hit my part of Missouri in years. The freezing rain and ice continued on into Tuesday and Tuesday night. I lost power at my house Tuesday afternoon about 3:00. Just an idea how badly the area got hit...I didn't get power back at my house until Monday February 2. 6 Days! I have pictures of some of the ice but I can't access them right now. Later I will update this post with pictures.

The ice was up to 4 inches thick on the power lines. Those came down pretty easily. And so did the poles. :( So did the trees. I remember sitting in my dark house with umpteen candles lit listening to the trees break all over the neighborhood. By the time Steve got home, I was real good at guessing which house just lost another part of their tree.

I was lucky in the candle department. This summer I was at a going out of business auction. I ended up buying over 200 taper candles for $7. I had about a dozen tapers going just in the living room alone. I easily had enough light to read by and even stitch by.

That night we stayed in our house even though the house was down to about 55 degrees. The next night and through Sunday night, we spent at my grandmother's house where Alex is staying. She has a gas heater in the family room that we turned up. After closing off unnecessary rooms, we were able to keep the house at about 70. Much better! Especially since our house was down to a balmy 42. It was cold enough we kept the groceries outside so they would last longer.

Steve and I finally were able to track down a small one burner Coleman stove and propane for it so Gwen (grandmother) could cook up hot food for Alex. There were several restaurants open in town after a day or so. Steve and I were able to grab something to eat. The town was under (and may still be) a curfew. It started at 10pm and ended at 6 am. It was a way to help curb crime and to keep people off the roads so the workmen could work without having to worry about the cars.

We had linemen from all over the country here to help out. (If any of you know a lineman, give him a big hug and kiss for me. Even if he didn't come here, he has probably gone somewhere similar to help out. He deserves a lot.)

Arkansas and Kentucky made more news than Missouri did. They had more areas get hit hard. But the bootheel of Missouri got hit hard, too. There are areas farther south from me who still do not have power and are not likely to for some weeks.

I was told by a lineman working in the Parma area that the electric company had 156 poles there. Only 5 of those poles were left standing after the storm. I think they are talking the end of February for all those folks to have power back.

Luckily, we haven't had any real bad damage from the storm. Some of the fence is down, but the roof is fine we think. The cleanup is going to be the real pisser.

In other news, I had my eye surgery on Tuesday. That is the weirdest thing. I laid there with my eye held open and never moved my head even though it wasn't held down. I have bruises on the backs of my hands where I had them clasped together so hard, though. Like I told the nurse right before we began. I am fine psychologically, but emotionally I keep doing the willies. Just having someone mess with my eye while I am awake and watching. It still gives me the willies. LOL

I have a soft contact lens covering the location he scraped. I'll go back in on Monday and have that removed and an exam to make sure everything is going as it should. I've got all sorts of eye drops I have to use. An anti-biotic, a steroid, and saline drops. I've gotten a headache several times right above my right eye that I think is from my eye doing funny things.

I am a little worried about the smoke at the boat tonight. It is my first night back to work and I don't know how my eye will react. Guess we will just have to wait and see.