wintery reminiscing

Yesterday Coop spotted a coyote passing through the woods behind the house. As a safeguard we kept the ducks penned in for the day. We watched Shadow as he guarded the edge of the property, fully aware of the coyote’s presence. I think the ducks would have been safe because of that, but there is no sense in tempting fate.

Last night brought terrible winds and cold. The gusts are so strong at times they are forcing air through the window seals, making a whining hum despite having this place sealed up quite well. That’s when you know it’s windy! I’m glad we have nowhere to go and can stay in. I will spend today doing small things…balancing the checking account, finishing up a crocheted capelet I began the other day and cooking a pot of soup.

This type of winter weather brings to mind days past when we lived here the first time. I remember a day the electric was out for 16 hours. Kandice and I stayed huddled on the sofa under a blanket a good share of that day with the kerosene heater taking center stage in the living room. Fortunately our electric co-op seems to have improved lines and service since then and we seldom get a power outage anymore. And when we do it is short lived.

The high winds of today bring memories from even further back of the blizzard that hit our area thirty years ago. The weather service declared the blizzard of January 1978 as a severe one that was rarer and far more dangerous, one of “unprecedented magnitude”. At that time I was 22 and living at home with my folks. We thought for sure the plate glass window in the living room was going to blow out. Fortunately it didn’t. Dad and my brother left work early that day and were fortunate they did, else they would have been stranded there. Days after the blizzard, I recall driving on roads still covered in layers of icy ruts, my old ’71 Plymouth Duster literally bouncing this way and that as I pushed forward to make it to work on time. Twenty foot drifts lined the roads, some higher, burying the countryside (and a few travelers) and hiding the view, giving the effect of being in a tunnel of snow. But enough reminiscing about the past, it’s time to get on with today.

photo courtesy ohiohistory.org