No Snow for Seth

Okay, so it was no snow for any of us, but that's the name of a children's book we have (No Snow For Seth). But it did ice, and boy did it ice! We expected some but we had no idea we'd see so many tree limbs and eventually entire trees come down. We woke up to the loud cracking sounds of pine limbs in the woods and saw a beautifully iced landscape.

When I stepped outside, the aroma of pine was so strong, much like when you first bring a Christmas tree in your house. But I couldn't believe all the limbs that were already down. It wasn't long into the morning before we heard a crash that was a little louder than all the others. I walked out to find a large limb on our roof, with the satellite dish hanging upside down. So we lived without TV for a few days. But there was no damage to the roof.

The kids quickly began requesting hot chocolate and mom read stories and nursery rhymes. They were elated that she was home (as school was closed). So we just enjoyed the blessing that our power was on and we were warm. Many in the area including Grandad & Mimi, Poppie & Nannie, and Uncle Wil & Aunt Kristin all lost power.

By Thursday afternoon we began to see some relief from the rain and ice. But the saturated ground couldn't hold two large pines that fell just between our house and our neighbors. No damage to property but a lot of work in front of us. I ventured out Thursday evening and was really surprised to see all the damage. I've heard many older folks say this was the worst they've ever seen it.

Late Thursday night we were delighted to see that Gainesville schools were to be closed again on Friday, so Les did not have to go in. She and the kids headed out Friday to run some errands and I joined our neighbor and began work on removing trees and limbs. It was a good day for work and we got a lot accomplished with a good tractor, some chainsaws, and multiple hands from other helpers.

Saturday we ran some errands and then came back for naps. McGrooter and I bundled up and headed outside to continue limb collection activities. We worked for several hours until Mom summoned him in. I stayed out until dark and we really got a lot done. By the time I came in the kids were eating and I was beat. After dinner "The Sound of Music" came on TV and McGrooter and Aggie both locked into it. I couldn't believe it but they really enjoyed it and didn't want to go to bed. So I guess once we get moved we'll have to pull out that video so they can finish watching it.

The house closing is definitely not going to be the 19th since they haven't even gotten the driveway poured. But the weather is looking promising for this upcoming week, so we hope to see them make some progress so that we can still get in before the end of the year.