Brrr: The Sequel

When I awoke this morning, the LED light on the alarm was blinking. Again.

Around seven yesterday morning a sudden silence woke us. The storm had stopped; the heater stopped blowing; the humidifier stopped humming; and our daughter's radio went quiet. That marked the beginning of our first "rolling" power outage. I hadn't heard quiet like that since I stood in the Texas desert.

How would we get hot water for coffee? Drive to 7-11? We were still discussing our options 3o minutes later when the heater started up again. Yeah!

That was the first of several outages we've had, though my sis who lives six blocks away has had none. Apparently they were planned rolling outages, so no one grid gets stuck without power for days on end. Everybody shares a temporary inconvenience, but the house never gets so cold we can see our breath or anything.

Texas doesn't usually get 14-degree weather that lasts four days, but here we are. Schools have been closed since Tuesday and we're in for another day at home today. When my hubby and I went to work out yesterday, we found more ice than expected "out there." It took us three hours round trip. When I checked last night, it was 22 here and 42 in Juneau. Crazy!

My school email account has stopped working, which means I can no longer send/receive email with students. So I took the extra time to make a salmon dinner last night, and I'm thinking I'll go Italian today--after Belgian waffles for breakfast. And then read a novel my agent recommended (The Shape of Mercy), since I plan to write a story set in both past and present.

I've enjoyed reading your cold-weather stories. Got more?