We are as prepared as we can be for the “crippling, catastrophic” winter storm that started yesterday for some of us in NC. We are under a winter storm warning until tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. and so far, we have about five inches of snow, which has since turned to sleet, which is then supposed to turn to freezing rain (1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice = power outage) and then come back around for the final slap, another round of snow.
It’s hard to believe by next Tuesday, the temperature is predicted to be close to sixty. There’s the saying, “you know you’re in NC when you are shoveling snow one day, and wearing flip flops the next.” This is true. I’ve lived here all my life, and the day before yesterday, I was in flip flops.
I guess we could have taken this a warning – although we didn’t really need to because the weather folks have been screaming , “A MAJOR STORM OF EPIC PROPORTIONS IS COMING, BE READY!” Maybe not screaming, but definitely emphasizing it. I saw this not more than a couple days ago:
“Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” We aren’t sailors, but with the forecast being what it is…okay, we got it, we got it.
While we’ve been preparing for the weather, I’ve also been taking care of the backyard critters. Like the squirrel I’ve named, “the Notorious Nubby.” He has no tail. It sort of came off. We knew something was wrong with him because he was dragging a paw, and his tail got scruffy, and then, it was no more. Now his paw seems fine, and he seems fine. He hops around, looking like a little rabbit. At first, he was just “Nubby.” He became “Notorious” after he survived the single digit temps. We make sure he has lots of peanuts to eat.
Meet the Nubster.
And of course, I have to feed the birds too. I’ve been trying to identify them but it just about gives me a headache every time I crack open my Stokes Birds book. The book is great, but if you’ve ever tried to do this, you know what I mean. Either way, these pics show that the birds are hungry. Did you know a bird can lose 10% of their body weight on one frigid night?
We get several different species coming to the feeders, some I know and a few I don’t. Either way, I have to fill the feeder almost every day.
Eastern Bluebird and Goldfinches
Dark Eyed Junco
Tufted Titmouse
None of this has a darn thing to do with writing. Except to sort of say, there may not be any posts for longer than usual – depending on what the weather does. We could be without power for days, or not at all. But, we’ve done all we can to prepare, and so, what else can we do? Take care of the ones who need extra help. Neighbors, and wildlife alike.
Stay warm!
Well Donna what you are getting, have gotten, are about to get and already have had…is coming our way. The way the weather-guessers are telling it, it’s the end of life as we know it. We’re expecting 4 to 8 inches and all the in between stuff too. To me it’s just another wintery day along the coast of Connecticut.
Last year, while wearing snowshoes, I stepped up off my front porch and walked thirty feet to the flag pole in our front yard and marked the level of the snow on the pole after one storm. It was 32″ inches deep. Now that’s snow. Tomorrow…that’s just a little inconvenience.
BUT if the power goes out and we run out of wood, (the pile is dwindling), we’re screwed.
Good luck to all of us. Stay warm my friend, stay warm.
Ice started coating the trees last night and I went to bed worried. I woke up several times throughout the night worried. I am up now and the screaming forecasters with dire predictions of weeks without power – didn’t predict a two degree warmup that melted the thin coating the trees showed last night. This is one of those times I love it when they get it wrong!
32 inches of snow? That would be a requirement for me to move. I love some of the countryside in places like upstate NY, Penn, Ohio, etc… my southern blood is too thin for three inches of snow, much less 32.
Btw – I have relatives in Milford. An aunt and uncle.
Your aunt and uncle live about an hour from here. Don’t know much about Milford except that during storms, and especially during our famous Nor-Easters, homeowners keep snorkels on their nightstands during high tide.
One could make the argument that everything has to do with writing 😉
In Central New York, we have a winter storm warning too. From 1 AM ’til Friday sometime. I even got an email from our power company! Crazy stuff. I hope hope, that winter is only on the outs from here; I’m really done with snow.
(I was in flip flops this morning…in my kitchen…because the tile was too cold to stand on. -5 when I made it to work, high of 23 that I saw. Brrrr.)
And…. that argument would be true – good point!
A letter from the power company? Wow. If that doesn’t empty the store shelves of bread and milk (like here) nothing will.
-5/high 23. I seriously wouldn’t know how to act.
It’s snowing again. So what else is new?