Ice, Ice Baby

Tail wags! It's me, Stormy - coming to you from Siberia. Well, maybe it isn't quite Siberia, but we think we know what it looks and feels like there now.

Remember Zim blogged on Monday that we were supposed to get an ice storm (small "s") that afternoon? Oh, pup, did we! We're all OK, but were without power and phones for about 24 hours and didn't have cable/internet access until a short time ago. Many people in our town (and across the mid-west) are still without power; our thoughts and prayers go out to them! It's amazing how cold the house can get in a short period of time. We worked very hard keeping our bipeds warm - and they were very grateful to us! We are still on restricted water use, as the pumps that run the water station are on back-up generators, and are also told we could lose power again as the ice melts, refreezes, and the wind kicks up. For now, we are counting our blessings! We know the power company people are working very hard in very harsh conditions to restore service to as many people as they can.

Many, many thanks to those of you who asked about us! Our mom even got to talk on the phone with Sitka's mom - isn't that cool!?!? We hope all of our mid-western blogging pals are safe; please check in when you can!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of our ice storm. This is the view out the front door from yesterday. That tree branch is bent REALLY low; it's not normally right in front of the door like that.

Here's a shot of our Redspire Pear. Click here to remember what it looked like in Spring.

The braches are almost touching the sidewalk! We're hoping once the ice thaws, the branches on most of our stuff will spring back up and will be fine.

Our neighbor has big Weeping Willow Trees that suffered a lot of damage. Here are some shots Mom took off our deck today:

Our King's Choice Elm in front of the fence, and the neighbor's Willow.

See all the broken branches up high? Here's another look:

We're glad the neighbors are safe and that their house wasn't damaged! Here are their power lines, though:

The trees yanked the cables right out of their house! Fortunately, they have power back right now; an electrician did a temporary fix for them and will come back after the thaw to square them away.

Back to the front ... in case you were wondering if a certain somebunny is OK ... he is. We got just under an inch of snow last night, so we have proof. I give you Exhibit A:

There were other exhibits all over the ice and snow, but I didn't think you needed to see pictures of those.

Zim loves the fake garland Mom put on our mailbox, and always tries to eat the fake red berries. Unfortunately for the Z-man, this is what that looks like right now:

The ice makes it really hard for the little guy to reach up and snag some before Mom or Dad can stop him!

Anyroo, just wanted to check in with everypup and let you know we're safe and well! We hope our friends are, too. For those of you in the path of this storm - please take every precaution you can to remain safe! Snow is beautiful, and ... well, OK, the ice looks pretty cool (Mom and Dad have used the word Narnia to describe what it looks like outside ... but then Mom mentions things like bleak, Dr. Zhivago, and frozen wastelands...) but it's trecherous! Beware! Jack Frost can keep that ice to himself; we'll just take the snow!

Tail wags to all!
Stormy