Valentine's Day, February 14 was technically the first day of the SnowMageddon, even though we had already had some very cold days before this date. On Wednesday, we called off our night church services because of the anticipation of some very cold temperatures. Cade's baseball games were called off for Thursday and Friday, as well as, Peyton's college football game on Saturday. The temperatures were already below freezing on Thursday and will stay below for the next 10 days.
On Sunday, the church services were also canceled. During the afternoon the snow began to fall. At 6 we had our first problem. Rick had been warning renters and children on how to prepare for these temperatures, but Brandi had the first mishap. She had a frozen pipe that flooded her house. So she had to cut her water off and start hauling water in ice chests. We had about 3-5 inches of snow - enough to cover the ground. For the next week, school would be canceled along with everything else. The night temperatures would be under 15 with a low of -2 one night. On Tuesday and Wednesday we received another 3-4 inches of snow. Supposedly this was the lowest temperatures in 70-80 years, and the second longest period of days below freezing.
We experienced rolling brown-outs, where we would have electricity for 15 minutes and off for 45 minutes. Everyone had a different story. Some people lost power for days, some lost water, and some lost neither. We totally lost our internet and television for 5-6 days. We did lose our water at the end for about 24 hours, but we had already put water in the bathtub "just in case." The grocery stores were very similar to the early days of Covid. People were hoarding up water, bread, milk, and eggs.
We did try to save a baby calf, Popsicle, but the extreme temperatures were just too much for him. In all, we lost a total of three brand new baby calves. Mindi had one sink to freeze. Marci's place all froze up. The church and school did not fare so well. The school had many burst pipes. The church just had a few. Rick and I swept water at the church one morning. Rick stayed busy for the entire 10 days helping with problems.
I was blessed during this time. I enjoyed the snow and birds. I had enough groceries and Diet Cokes on hand that food was never an issue. I managed just fine without television, stores, and going somewhere.
