Day 197, Waking up to snow



Big snow on February 15, 2011

Around 4:30am I awoke to the sound of one of my cats starting to hack up a hair ball.  If you have a cat, you know what that sounds like.  He was standing by the cat door in the window, hacking, but not going outside.  I opened the cat door and pushed him out just in time for the hair ball to go flying onto the deck. What a lovely way to wake up. 

I then noticed that it was awfully bright out, so I put my glasses on to see that it was snowing.  There was already about 2" and it was really dumping.  I laid back in bed and just watch the snow fall and then noticed flashes in the sky, like lightening.  I wondered if someone had hit a power pole and a transformer blew?   I then noticed several more and I wasn't exactly sure what was causing them.  Around 5am, I texted Tracy, knowing that she gets up just before 5am to get ready for work.  She texted back that her power was flickering on and off.  My power cut out twice, but came back on each time, I guessed transformers were blowing but at least the power was still working.



About 8" of new snow and still falling.

 I went back to sleep and woke up around 6:45am to get ready for work.  Around 7:20am, my power finally went out.  Usually when the power goes out they get it fixed pretty quick, so I wasn't to concerned.  I looked outside and realized the snow was still falling and there was between 8" and 10" on the ground.  The trees were covered and straining from the weight of the heavy snow.  It was beautiful, but I had to head to work.  Getting the truck out of the garage required disconnecting the electric garage door opening and then closing it once the truck was out.  I had to put the truck into 4 wheel drive just to get down my driveway and to make it into town.

It took me over 25 minutes to get work, instead of the usual 10.  Power was out all over town and the traffic light by the High School was out, so the traffic was backed up several blocks.  We had no problems at work with our power even though most of Bend was without. 



Collecting eggs by lantern light.



At 3:45pm I went off to my workout appointment in Bend.  It had really warmed up and a lot of snow had melted but there was still nearly 6" on the ground.  The workout was great and afterward I went to Costco to get a refund on a camera we had bought for the office, saving us $50.  Then I went to Lowe's to get a new hot and cold water lines for my washing machines.  I had sprung a leak in the cold line and I need to replace it so I can do laundry.  By the time I left Lowe's it had started to snow again, so I wondered how much we would get tonight. 

 By the time I got home it was close to 7:30pm.  The power was still out and I figured it might be a long cold night ahead.  Surprisingly the house stayed very warm and the temperature was around 65 degrees (which is the temperature I set the house to when I go to bed).    I figured I better start a fire in the fireplace and see if I could bring the temperature up a bit so it wouldn't cool down too much during the night.  Within minutes I had a roaring fire going thanks to the help of a gas stater.



5 eggs for the day.

 I really needed to go out and check on the chickens since I hadn't seen them since morning.  I lit an old lantern and went out for look.  I took food and clean water and they were happy to see me.  It was kind of nostalgic checking on the hens and collecting 5 eggs by lantern light.  I had the feeling of stepping back in time and wondered if this is how they did it in the old days?

Back inside, the house had warmed up to 69 with the fire blazing in the fireplace.  I closed the back bedrooms and closed blinds in an effort to not have to heat so much house and to help hold the heat in.  It was actually kind of a fun evening.

Living in the county and having a well, means you have no water when the electricity goes out.    Luckily I have a large pressure tank it provided enough water for me to do a few things in the kitchen before shutting off.  If the power doesn't come back on by morning, I wont be having a shower and I'll have to go to my folks in  early in the morning.

With nothing much to do but watch the fire, I decided to go to bed around 9:45pm.  I was exhausted from being up early the night before.  My bedroom was a little cooler than normal, but I was warm and comfortable.