This week has been a challenging winter weather week in the State of Washington, particularly here in south Puget Sound. Snow showers started on Sunday. On Wednesday, a foot of snow fell down. I was working but I ever so often, I looked out the window.
Big puffy white flakes. Steve has worked every day since Martin Luther King Day. I know he’s tired. On Wednesday the power went out. We were lucky, more than most. We have a big black cast iron wood stove that keeps the house warm, and that I can also use to cook on. And we also have oil lamps that we use to keep the lights on, although I dislike the oil residue that the oil lamps leave on white porcelain and tupperware. I have enough power to keep my iPhone charged so that I can listen to audible books and have a bit of entertainment. But it’s amazing to me how difficult life can be without electrical power. You can work all day working to keep the house warm, prepare food, clean house.
The power has been constantly fluctuating on and off since Wednesday. We can hear transformers blowing up around us. I’m glad that we installed a whole house surge protector last year. Don’t have to worry so much about power surges and delicate electronic equipment. Still wish we had the generator.
On Friday I decided that it was time to try and get to the store. We had run out of cat food and they were not interested in the tuna that we had on hand, in case of emergencies. With 10 sandbags in the back of the kia and a hour of shoveling, I got 20 feet up the driveway. At this rate, I’d be out of the driveway by nightfall. It was really creepy being out there as well. Every few minutes, you could hear trees or branches falling in the woods. There were trees down along the driveway and along my road. In the end, I called a neighbor and he pulled me out with his tract machine. He ended up having to pull me halfway down the road until my tires could gain traction. For the rest of the snow period, I parked at the beginning of the driveway, close to the road.
Once I hit the asphalt, driving was ok, but it truly looked like a war zone. Trees were down all along the highway, some of them barely hanging off of electrical lines. I took it slow into town. There were tons of people on the road, all with the same idea I had which was to get some fresh fruit and vegetables.
I heard that they had closed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge because of falling ice. Hard to imagine an event so life threatening as to close the Narrows. I have seen that bridge open during some of the most dangerous situations. With a fire going on it, high winds, and ice as thick as 6 inches thick. It must be truly scary right now.
By Saturday, the snow had almost melted all away. It was amazing really. Hard to believe we had such a serious snow week, that people had lost their lives trying to travel in such weather. There is still a lot to clean up. I had some tree work myself to do.
The truth is that there are trees blocking the stream in the lake, and because of that, the lake has risen again another 2 feet. What a pain in the neck.