The TV, LEX18 in Lexington reports 607,000 people without power and this is the largest power outage on record in the state.  Generators are being rationed... at Home Depot, people are cooking on their BBQ Grills... some are stupid enough to do it inside their homes, earning them a free ride to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning. It could take up to 6 weeks to restore power to lots of places in the state.  Shelters are open, schools are closed. rivers are overflowing and "alternative heating sources" are causing house fires.  I feel very lucky to have only lost my phone lines and DSL for a couple of days.
In the wee hours Tuesday morning it started to rain, the temperatures had dropped and it created a frozen wonderland by morning. That is of course if you didn't have to GO OUT in it. The trees glistened with a thin layer of ice. EVERYTHING glistened.
I grabbed the camera and the umbrella and went out to check the road condition. I knew the minute I stepped on the gravel driveway finding a thin layer of ice... that I was not going anywhere.
The rain gauge, which sits on top of the porch railing was frozen, yet the meter inside showed several inches of rain.  This photo was taken at 10:17 AM on 1/27/09. Take note of the water level in the creek in the background.
The porch steps, which I did not use. So glad Paul got me that ICE MELT stuff.
The trees at the entrance gate and beside the house.
The cows thought I was nuts to be out and about. Maybe it was the Large golf umbrella I was carrying..or maybe they were just hungry.Note the icicles on the barbed wire fence in foreground.
Everywhere I looked the trees, the ground the wires... everything was FROZEN in time. I called Miss Debbie at the Day Care... told her I would not be bringing Alexis in that day... she understood. As the day went on it rained, and rained and rained... and it froze and frozen and froze some more.
	It just so happens that THIS was MY Tuesday for the SCHWAN's guy.  The wonderful man that comes every other week, on time, like clockwork to deliver my order I've previously placed online.  And even when I forget... he comes anyway to see what he can sell me off the truck.  I became concerned that he would attempt to come down my road and not make it out.  I had visions of the Schwan's truck sliding off the road and into the ditch.. I checked my email in hopes that they would tell me he would not be coming... even though I was totally out of my favorite ice cream, Toffee Caramel Crunch made with HEATH® Ice Cream. Just as I was wondering if I should call them..... the doorbell rang.  YIKES, I nearly jumped out of my skin... the doorbell NEVER rings, at least not without all those dogs barking first.  I looked out the window, no trucks, no cars, no a vehicle in sight.  So I go downstairs and open my door... and there he is MY SCHWAN"S Guy RON !!!   OMG !!!  I said, what are you doing here.  I look around, no truck...he's soaking wet.  I said... "Did you walk down the road".... YUP !!  Sure enough he parked his truck at the top of the road and walked 3/10ths of a mile down a wet, slippery, icy road to deliver my order to my door! They really mean it when they say "Home Sweet Home Delivery "  Ron went straight to work unloading my order into the freezer, yes he even loads my freezer.  I wrote him his check and off he went as I stood there amazed ... my mouth still hanging open.  WOW.  So I went right up to my computer and I wrote me a letter to the Schwan's People... I hope he gets an award or something.
It rained all day.... it rained all night... and in the morning.... the creek looked like this !  YES, this is the same creek that you see in the background of the photo of my rain gauge... a mere 20 hours later at 8:27 AM on 1/28.. The rain gauge now says..... 4.55 Inches of rain. This creek roars when it's full... I heard it half the night.
Yes, there were rapids in our little creek. It filled it's little creek bed and nearly went over a little.... nearly.  I've never seen it this full. Those walls on the left side near the bend are probably about 8 feet high.
The forecast was for rain to turn to snow and the sky definitely looked like it.  I got my coffee and was just getting settled in to start another day of work simultaneously trying to entertain a 4 year old.  The computer said,  NOPE ... no work today.  I picked up the phone..... DEAD !  The news and weather were full of reports of the devastating ice in northern Kentucky, the downed trees and power lines... thousands of people without power, heat, phone.  People were standing in line at gas stations for Kerosene to fuel heaters. Cars were sliding into ponds, trees were crashing into homes.  I lost ONE branch off a tree near the house and my phone line was DEAD .... both of them.  Boy did I feel lucky.   Alexis and I got dressed and jumped into the truck. We headed out the road to see what other damage we had and to use the cellphone to call Paul and the boss and let them know our phones were out. We made it about 1/3 of the way out the road when we found some small trees in the way.  I got out of the truck and moved them.
Then we made our way to the top.....passing a low spot, that always floods and seems to get narrower every day...and today was no exception.  The water had done a job on it and it looks like we'll be using some of that tax return for road repairs.
When we got to the top of the road, there was Mr. Emersons gracious Weeping Willow Tree.... weeping. Take note of the tiny balls of snow that began falling at this time. We traveled up the road to the Church to use our cellphone. Making two calls, one to Paul and the other to my boss. The snow came down faster, bigger and fluffier.  A man stopped and asked if everything was OK.
We went back home, taking another photo of Mr. Emerson's tree... exactly 16 minutes later. The ground already had a white coloring, the flakes where huge...
When I returned home I checked the temperature... 31.  GEE it's been 31 for two days I said... it was 31 when the Schwan's guy came... I made sure to note the temperature in my letter to the company...It was 31 when I went to bed and now it was STILL 31.  I decided to go outside and check the thermometer near the Unit in the back of the house... I expected it was FROZEN.   This is what I found
YUP... it was frozen to the side of the house alright... and the entire unit was encased in an icy blanket.  This was SOLID...on the top and those GIANT icicles dripping down the side..... I decided it was HAMMER TIME.  I gently, as gentle as one can be with a hammer on 2 inch thick Icicles, tapped all around the unit, chipping the ice and breaking it into pieces. Meanwhile, the unit goes on.... and ice starts flying out the top vents.
The snow fell for about 2 hours... Alexis suited up and went out on the porch to play.
Nothing like the look of a Florida born child getting her first look and feel of some REAL SNOW !!!!
And in the end, it looked like this.......
AND the road looked like this .....going up.
and like this coming back down.  YES we walked up the road .... BECAUSE my FLORIDA 2 Wheel Drive truck would not make it up the road with a 1/2 inch of snow and some ice under it.  Take note of the tire tracks part way down where I backed up and took it back to it's nice snug garage.
The snow and ice continue to collect on the roof, melting on the top and crashing to the bottom with a thud that makes us jump even though we saw it out the window and knew it was going to happen. Thursday, I loaded up some wood into the back of the truck.  It used to be a tree over on the other side, but Paul cut it down last week when he was here.... and IT WAS 50 DEGREES !!!  It should be enough weight to get me out of here Friday morning. The weekend will be the big THAW before the next storm comes along and dumps a little more of the white stuff on us next week. At 2 PM I walked up to the mailbox to make a call on my cellphone to Windstream, I tell the lady I need to know when my phone line will be fixed because I can't work without it and my boss wants to know when I'll be back... she gives me the usual... we are are working on it.. check later today.  I walk back to the house... pick up the phone... DAILTONE !!!!!! Next time I'll call earlier... and there WILL BE a next time... I'm sure of it.
And a little girl transplanted from Florida to Kentucky...has created...... SNOW CASTLES !