I discovered that three days of no electricity, cloudy gloom and a house that doesn’t get about 65 degrees F is about my limit for nice. The fourth day I am mostly whiny and bitchy. There are many still with no power and groups from other states working in the cold to get things fixed. Trees down all over town, homes and cars damaged by falling limbs. People liken it to a tornado but there is a huge difference. Tornadoes kill people and I’ll trade broken trees and holes in roofs for that any day. Still, prayers for all who are still living in the cold dark. It was 18 here last night and supposed to be in the 20s tonight. We were blessed to have a fireplace but this has decided it for me – I will never own an all electric home again. We were so much better prepared when we lived in the country and had a gas stove and hot water heater and a wood heater in the living room that would heat most of the house.
the clouds are not
just in the sky
they’re in my head
and in my eyes
and cold is living
in my heart
my bones about
to shake apart
frozen fields
and hardened ground
stinging air
frost makes a sound
a buzzing like
electric lines
while all that lives
lies still and pines
for warmth of sun
and light of day
but winter stays
and stays
and stays
The photo is taken in my back yard this morning but the poem was actually inspired by a photo taken by Ginger Cook – I recommend her photo blog http://gingersfunkyphotos.blogspot.com/
Ginger graciously granted permission to add her photo so here is the picture that started the shivery poem!
Hay Bale With Ice taken by Ginger Cook
It is a beautiful picture..although the cold like that is hard to welcome..i hope you are warming up now..brr x
So glad to hear you have power. Tornados are destructive and brutal, but ice storms are just plain creepy, and awfully destructive as well. Plus it’s cold.
Totally sympathize with you on the all-electric house thing. When we discovered that our conventional fireplace did nothing but cool the house, we installed a high-efficiency inset that has made a WORLD of difference. If we could figure how to get a wood-burning stove into the house, that would be next. It’s fine to cook on the grill in the summer; it all gets harder in the winter, when you really need a hot meal to sustain yourself.
Anyway. Glad to hear you have all the comforts of civilization back again, and that, with those in place, there is room for poetry in your life. Let’s hope winter stays away for a little while (at least from your part of the world…).