Artic Blast

The last week or so we have been stuck in what the weather guys call an "Artic Blast". I personally call it just plain cold. Last Friday the snow moved in and we got about 6 inches or so. yesterday some areas of Willamina registered at -5 degrees. That goes past cold and makes everything kind of miserable. I am finding it hard to warm up unless I am standing in front of the pellet stove.

I will say that this snowy, bitterly cold world is very pretty. But I find that it makes everything a bit more challenging. From running to the grocery store, to deciding which streets I can drive up and which I cannot. In my neighborhood a lot of people park down on the flats and hike up the hill. I have been very thankful for 4-wheel drive which gets me up and down the hill with relative ease and safety.

Another challenge has been keeping water flowing. So many of my friends are experiencing broken and/or frozen pipes. I have not, however I especially have one set of outside pipes that I am keeping an eye on. Especially when it begins to thaw out, I will watch for the sight and sound of flowing water from under my deck.

Yet another challenge is the very low attendance at church because so many people could not make it safely. We actually had to cancel some of our scheduled Christmas events at the church. Even the town cancelled the Annual Light Parade which has never happened.

However, we are supposed to creep above freezing sometime later this week. Of course that is not before they are predicting freezing rain for us. It would not be winter in Willamina without a couple of bouts of freezing rain.

All I can say is that I am thankful that it is not on a Sunday this time....

Just Connie