elsewhere

Today is sunny, the kind of crisp, clear, blue day at the tail end of winter that brings with it the promise spring will come. The kind of day that draws you outside to walk, to breathe in the cool air, and feel the warmth of the sun as it grazes your face.

I spent part of the morning walking with the dogs, bringing them in after lunch for kibble, yogurt, and a nap. Maddy, at five months, still needs that midday meal. Or so she thinks. Afterward, I went out to purchase some new dress shirts for hubby and pick up a few necessities. In between the 7-11 and Kohl's, I came across a thrift store I hadn't noticed before. While I generally hate to shop, I infrequently have moods conducive to wandering through unique little thrift stores and gift shops.

The thrift store had a name we've all seen before, something to the effect of "Second Time Around". I went in and began to wander about the store, picking up a piece of pottery that caught my eye and inspecting a Swedish Modern headboard in a lovely blonde wood tone. As I made my way to the back of the store, nearing the register, I heard a man and a woman talking. It was all business, talk of rent, transporting goods to the store, and collecting bounced checks. The man was older, perhaps the woman's father, and he peppered his sentences with various phrases meant to thank the Lord for their good fortune. I smiled to myself and thought about Brother Bill, the preacher at my childhood church. Something in the old man's manner and phrasing reminded me of him.

I finished my errands and came home. The dogs, fresh from their crates, were delighted to see me and ran immediately to the back door. The cats even slunk in to see who had come home. The house had grown too warm and stuffy while I was gone, so I opened the bank of windows on the kitchen wall, looking into the backyard. Suddenly the cats could hear, rather than just see those birds, and now, even though I closed the windows twenty minutes ago, they are still meowing at me, pleading for open windows again.

This time last year I wouldn't have given you a plug nickel for this town. I would most likely have wished to be elsewhere. Suddenly, undeniably, it is home.

• I believe this is heaven
  To no one else but me
  And I'll defend it long as
  I can be
  Left here to linger
  In silence
  If I choose to
  Would you try to understand?

from Elsewhere by Sarah MacLachlan

Images of the Ice

The ice will be gone today or Thursday. Most of the ice on the lawn is already gone, partially melted by the rain on Tuesday and partially by the high temperature of 39 degrees fahrenheit. Our forecast is for scattered showers and 36 degrees fahrenheit today. On Thursday, we are expecting sun and 45 degrees fahrenheit, but another storm system is headed this way on Friday. This time, the forecast is snow.

The power outages rose to 618,000 customers statewide today. Almost 251,000 of those are in and around Oklahoma City. This outage is the worst in the state's history. A similar storm in 2002 left about 250,000 without power at the height of the power problems. All 77 counties in Oklahoma have been touched. The current occupant has declared our lovely state a disaster area. Today the power companies held a press conference to say some of those poor people may be without power for a week to ten days, despite the fact that help is being brought in from out of state.

Even though we've had a couple of 30 second outages that made me hold my breath, we still have power. Several of my husband's coworkers who live no more than one or two miles to the east of us weren't so lucky. And because their homes are all electric and serviced by electric powered rural water wells, they have no power, heat or water and have had to leave their homes.

Soon the picturesque ice that has caused all the problems will be gone, so I thought I'd share a few more shots from my neighborhood.

A stand of trees on the east side of our front yard.

Our mail box.

The blackjack oak in the middle of our front yard.


The little junipers in front of my bedroom window. I wonder if they'll recover.

Another shot of the stand of trees on the east.

One of the lights that marks our driveway.

A tree from the back yard.

There are some wonderful photo slide shows of pictures residents have sent into the television stations. You can see pictures of the damage as well as some really beautiful shots of ice covering trees, bushes, furniture, houses, and statues. If you'd like to view them, go here. My kids will return to school tomorrow and our life will be essentially normal. There are many residents here who won't be so lucky. Keep them in your thoughts.

ice, ice, everywhere

We are having a big ice storm. The deluge started Saturday night with freezing rain followed by sleet and a few snow flurries. On Sunday morning, before the roads were too bad, my husband drove me to the grocery and the hardware store for supplies. I loaded up on kiddo food and canned goods plus milk, eggs and bread. We bought de-icer, ice melt for the sidewalks and driveway, and a key for the gas fireplace at the hardware store. The kids were out of school on Monday, and they're out again today. We are lucky; Monday morning the news programs were reporting 137,000 customers without power in the state. Now, that number is up to 500,000, but our power is still on. (Knocking wood as I type.)

My parents have no water or electricity and are staying at a hotel for the next two or three days. We haven't been able to reach my husband's mother, but we're fairly sure she is with his sister. The power outages are particularly bad in Tulsa this time. The Tulsa International Airport was completely without power on Monday and is expected to be today as well. One of the water processing plants has no power and Tulsans have been asked to conserve water.

Ice is dangerous and brutal. There have been twelve deaths as a result of traffic accidents since the ice started just in the Oklahoma City area and another death from exposure. Monday morning I heard that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the OKC police had responded to more than 100 accidents. I'm sure by now it's many more.

Our neighbors two doors down lost one of the big trees in their back yard. Luckily, it didn't fall on their house or the shop. I spoke to my father, who lives about 140 miles north of us, and he's lost so many trees on his land that he thinks he'll have about twelve ricks of wood to cut when the storm and its aftermath are over. It's no wonder the trees are coming down.

The ice is thick on everything. When I took the dogs out Monday morning in the ice covered grass, I laughed so hard I nearly cried. Jack gingerly picked his way across the yard, refusing to pee until we found some soft grass under the blackjack oak. Maddy didn't really walk across the yard. Once we were off the patio, she jumped and hopped. I think she was trying to get across the ice, thinking if she hopped just once more, things would return to normal. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen a dog do.

Our yard backs up to a hay field. We haven't yet put up a fence, so the back of our yard is still marked by barbed wire. Just behind the fence there are little trees and bushes. They are all covered with ice and glistened in the little bit of sun that broke through the clouds.

The ice is on everything. I couldn't open the doors of my car this morning, even with de-icer. I had to resort to heat and a windshield scraper. Icicles hang in a thick fringe from the eaves. We had to pull one of the trash cans inside the garage and let it thaw just to take the trash out of the house. The little bushes in the front yard are so heavy with ice they are bending to touch the ground.

More freezing rain was forecast for Tuesday, but at 11:30pm the temperature in the Oklahoma City metro was 34 degrees F. It looks like the worst of it is behind us. For this storm, anyway.

My lovely daughter turns seventeen years old today. She told me she thought the weather turned at just the right time. Late enough that school was called off . . . so she gets a snow day for her birthday.