I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Storm Prep
For the last few days we’ve heard that a big storm was headed our way. In fact, there has been nasty weather through most of the country with tornadoes and flooding to the south and snow and ice in the north. What a mess.
Our storm was supposed to bring snow, sleet, freezing rain, and high winds starting later this afternoon. Meteorologists warned that roads could become impossible and that “power outages of long duration” were possible.
We spent the morning preparing for the bad weather. We filled gallon jugs with water for drinking and the large blue 5 gallon jugs with water for flushing the toilet if our power went out. I got the laundry all done and the dishes washed because I didn’t want a pile of dirty clothes or dishes if we went days without power.
Meanwhile, EJ packed an emergency bag for both him and JJ in case they got stranded on their way home from work. JJ was like, “I won’t need it. I won’t be stuck.” However, I told him that it would be great if he didn’t need it, but if he did get stuck he would be glad he had it. He doesn’t have much experience driving in bad winter weather and I don’t think he’s fully aware of how bad it can be.
Before EJ left for work, I made him teach me how to hook up the propane heater in case we lost power before he got home. I’m very, very glad we lost our power over Christmas because now we are very prepared for this nastier storm.
All day we watched the chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers eating from our bird feeders. I figured out that we have Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Downy and/or Hairy Woodpeckers coming to the feeders. The Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers look almost identical. I think mostly the difference is in size, but I think we have both sizes. I absolutely love the variety of woodpeckers in our forest. I tried to take pictures, but couldn’t get a good one. They usually flew away before I could grab my camera. Just before dark I went outside and brought the bird feeders onto the front porch. I didn’t want them to blow down in a high wind or get encased with ice. Once the storm is over, I’ll put them back up for the birds.
This is the first major winter storm we’ve had up here, and my first living outside a town. I wouldn’t be so concerned if my family was home, but both EJ and JJ had to work today and I worried about them getting home safely. Snow is bad enough, but ice-covered roads are treacherous. I told them both to call me as soon as they left work so I could pray them home. JJ got out of work at 8 p.m. and made it home safely. He said that it was terrible outside. EJ doesn’t usually leave work until the wee hours of the night, but he and his co-workers are planning to leave an hour early tonight. They will work an extra hour on Friday, he said. I will be glad when he is home. It becomes an adventure when my family is with me.
After JJ arrived home, Danny wanted outside. Ugh. It is cold and snowy and windy. I took some pictures. I think it’s interesting to take photos of the snow at night. The flash lights up the snowflakes into interesting patterns.
Our lights flickered a few times tonight, but then stayed on. I got out a flashlight and our battery-operated lantern so I don’t have to grope around in the darkness if the power fails. It would be nice if we don’t lose our power, but I’m not holding my breath.
Once the storm passes, we have sleds and can slide down our hill.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
I do hope EJ made it safely home glad JJ is. It looks really bad in the weather report so I hope you all will be okay, The birds are great and the snow picture too. Next week our temp will drop but not so much we have the warmest december since 1901. So that’s crazy too. And in England they have floods all over the country. So everything is pretty much put of the normal way I guess. Stay warm and if possible enjoy it also. ❤
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EJ made it home safely! We didn’t lose our power and today the world looks beautifully snow-covered!
Wow. It really sounds like crazy weather throughout the whole world!
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Not all the world, here in the northern plains where we should be seeing all the snow and blowing, we are barely white. Enjoy the winter wonderland and the time together.
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