The big ice storm #2

      Those horizontal lines in this picture are power lines across the road from the house. They are loaded with ice. Our power lines were up, but further up the road the ice had overloaded the lines and snapped the power poles off at the ground, taking our power away from us. Part of the problem was there were no poles to replace those that fell during the storm. The power company had to bring up poles and crews from Alabama to begin work on our lines. It was so quiet I could hear them nearly a quarter mile up the road for days and nights before we finally got our power restored.

      This picture taken three days into the outage showed the Missouri national guard showing up to ask if we needed any assistance. To those young men this was a fun adventure, to Joyce, not so much. That is me in the checkered hoody talking with them.

      This picture is me pulling my little red wagon that I used to carry ice encrusted wood from the woods out back. I thought my clutch had gone out in my truck; it turned out the heavy-duty floor mat had slid under the clutch pedal and did not allow the clutch to engage. It would not have mattered too much because the truck had no traction on the icy hills once I got down there I could not have gotten back.

      This picture shows that even if I had the truck going I still could not have gotten close enough to the house to use it for unloading any wood. If only I would have had a donkey to use as a pack animal. It was a tough time for us, but one I still remember despite it being 12 years ago.

      This is me taking a break in the afternoon, having a cold beer. It was lucky I kept a large supply of beer in the house. Our fresh food was gone due to no refrigeration, but the whole house was a giant beer cooler. It gave me the energy to keep going out for firewood from dawn to dusk.

      
Copyright Bill Weber 2018 and beyond.