Waiting

I decided to bring in our trash and recycling bins since it’s looking like there wont’ be a pickup this week. I was clearing off the snow when I saw that the bottom layer was actually hail – must have arrived during the thundersnow that kicked the whole storm off in the first place?

There’s supposed to be an enormous wind and snow storm tonight, possibly with freezing rain, and they’re forecasting gusts of 70-90 mph. We were supposed to fly out to Florida this morning, but we pushed back our flights, partly out of concern that we’d have trouble getting to the airport (our neighbourhood still has so much snow).

The other factor was that if we lose power, we wanted to be here to keep an eye on the fishtank and make sure that it’s staying warm, oxygenated, and that there’s a bit of current. We have the deep cycle battery from the 2006 windstorm all charged and ready to go, and we have battery operated airpumps. Fingers crossed that we don’t need to use either of them.

For the moment, we’re appreciating our electricity. This house is going to be very cold without it, and luckily we have plenty of food that doesn’t require cooking, since that won’t be an option either. Fingers crossed that the wind and freezing rain don’t hit the power supply lines. We have candles out already, and the energy company number programmed into my cell phone (we don’t have a house line, so if too many towers go down, that bit of prep will be moot) – everything we can do to jinx against the storm.

Everything is so still and stark outside. We’re surrounded by all of these enormous trees, and everything feels like it’s just waiting.