If only the robin had access to news programs, it would have known that following a beautiful, 60-plus-degree day, a blizzard -- the first of this winter -- would hit the next day.
Why did the weather folks have to be right this time? How did everyone else fare, weatherwise?
Tuesday night made me feel as if I belonged in a Three Stooges episode. I was up past my bedtime watching TV and listening to howling winds when the room went dark. I walked out to the kitchen to grab the energy company's emergency number off the fridge and absent mindedly flipped the light switch -- surprise! The lights came on!
For a few hours, the lights would go out for minutes. I would jump up off the sofa and reset all the digital clocks (actual clocks, clock radios, clocks in the microwaves and gas stove, clocks in the upstairs bedrooms) then crawl back under a blanket. Then, the power would go again for a few minutes, and I would repeat the entire routine. Sure, it would have been easier if I wasn't so darned picky about not only having all those clocks set but having them set to EXACTLY the same time and not derisively blinking at me until I got my hands on them.
Still, I was quite lucky because nearly 6,400 households in my county totally lost power, some for nearly 12 hours.
When the forecasters said "blizzard," they weren't exaggerating. The back door was frozen shut, metal latches on the coops were frozen, snow blew in all the coops through the ventilation openings and piled against the coop doors, winds blew drifts as high as the railing on the deck ramp and my smaller dog refused to go outside. I now know Dinah can control her bladder for at least 22 hours, although I'm pretty sure she shouldn't make a habit of it.
Today, I will clear the ramp AGAIN, remove snow from the coops and shovel out all the runs so my birds can enjoy the predicted sunshine. Then, it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. I have stocked up on essentials and am tempted not to shovel the driveway, but to just wait for warm weekend temps to do most of the work for me.