9 degrees this morning. There’s been snow on the ground, which is frozen rock hard, since December 18 last year. One of the furnaces is out and space heaters roar to keep the rooms tolerable. The repairmen are swamped and we’re in better shape than some. They’ll get to us.  What firewood is left is reserved for emergency use and used sparingly when needed once the sun goes down. I can’t remember the last time the daily high was above freezing or even close. Temp’s in the 20′s are starting to feel warm. When we got our most recent newspaper, before the  snow covered the road again, there were hints that warm weather was coming. I hope so.

Lake Junaluska, NC, frozen and covered with snow

We’ve made the most of the situation, and had to get out to relieve the cabin fever from time to time. I still keep several hundred pounds of rocks in the back of the truck to get traction when needed on the icy patches and when the roads are  still white in the shady sections. The motorcycles sit frozen like statues in the car port and I fear I’ll find the batteries have succumbed when I go to start them once warmer weather returns. The Blue Ridge Parkway is closed of course, and the reports coming in tell of significant damage from downed trees which may take months to clear. Parts remain inaccessible even to the snow plows to evaluate the conditions.

The photo shows nearby Lake Junaluska on a Sunday walk. It’s frozen over and covered with snow. For the first time in my experience I foolishly dared to walk out on it to find the ice quite solid. Only a pure idiot would dare a crossing, and would likely discover there are parts which are only thinly covered. I may be foolish, but fortunately there is a limit. The video was made by my wife playing with her new toy, a “Flip” camera. It only took her a few minutes to put it together and I suspect we’ll have a lot more video to show for it.

Everyone eagerly anticipates the return of normal weather and rumors of highs in the 50′s later this week fill my heart with both joy and dread. There are chores waiting to clean up the damage and set things back in order, plumbing repairs, yard work, and then there’s the motorcycles. I hope they’ve survived.