Storms... ice...snow...
As many of you've heard, the elements pounded us. My head feels more damaged than our land, which when you see the pictures, you'll understand is major.
When we bought the property several months back, we knew there was major maintenance needed. Everything from electrical issues to building faux pas kept us busy. Luckily, we hired a superb tree guy who came out and took care of all the overgrown, old-growth trees, trimming them away from the house and the garages. Because when the ice storm started, there was nothing we could do.
After years in Las Vegas (even though we did have more snow there than outsiders would ever believe,) we looked forward to snow days and snow men. We all ran around, throwing snow balls as the fat flakes fell on our cheeks.
 |
| Ella in her CatLamb hat |
 |
| Kale and Turnip Greens! |
I, of course, went into crazy-cook-everything-in-the-house-before-it-all-goes-bad-and-we're-attacked-by-snow-zombies mode. I cooked up all the kale, turnip greens, potatoes (yes, Mr. Former President, that's when you use the 'e' in "potatoes."), sweet onions, rutabagas, with a blood orange-tinged fresh olive oil.
Fast forward a little and you'd have sampled my butternut squash bisque (which I forgot to take pictures of.)
You can see from the pictures, I'm a big fan of spice collections like Herbs de Provence. The Savory Spice carries tons of special salts beyond the kind for pork - like Parisian salt, with hints of lavender.
 |
| Red Potatoes, Rutabagas, Onions, and Sweet Potatoes |
Far off to our right, we heard a pistol crack of sound, fireworks, or toy guns. But then the ache of the weight gave way to the groans of the trees and we watched in horror as one of the neighbor's towering trees' limbs lumbered, then collapsed, tumbling against the ones below it, adding more weight, adding more ice, twisting and pulling it down, tangling with each other, ripping down the entire side of the tree.
Within moments, the popping and cracking and groaning was coming from all sides of us. Before we had time to rush back inside to safety, we watch one of our own tall cedars split at the very top, each side splintering down the middle as if a giant axe had chopped it clean.
We waited inside, distracting ourselves with old movies, watching the screen flicker when the wind blew hard against the house. Every so often, we heard gunshots that didn't come from the TV, the sounds of the collapsing limbs.
 |
| The first of the Fallen (the fence is six feet tall) |
With about 60+ trees scattered about, we lucked out; none were uprooted and only about 11 were affected. The Two Lovers - as dubbed by our tree guy because the two trees were so intertwined that if we removed one, the other would die - suffered the worst of it. On the hickory tree, a large limb still hangs precariously with 95% of its base split. The cedar appeared to have limited damage until I walked around to the other side. It looked like Paul Bunyan had come along and stripped the bark and branches.
 |
| The "Two Lovers", now split and falling |
 |
| The "Two Lovers" from the back side |
Our driveway looked like a battlefield, blocked by icy dead limbs, too heavy to carry or move. For five days, we stayed inside, waiting for it to stop, being bombarded by ice, then snow, then rain, then ice, then snow, until what you loved about each was lost.I couldn't even bring myself to write about it, at first, or at least, until now. However, last weekend, we travelled up near Clarkrange, TN, where the storm hit so hard, roads were impassable not just because of the ice, but because hundreds upon hundreds of trees blocked the highways. When we arrived, they had only just restored power - after more than a week.
As I write this, newscaster are warning us to head home. More is coming.
It's funny how what delighted me as a child - the snowflakes and the lightness and the sliding and the brightness - have given way to what concerns me as an adult - the sliding, the wrecks, being stranded, damage. But what falls away I guess is unnecessary - in the end, at least.
Please be careful out there.
(The rest are pictures and two very short videos of the flooded Duck River.)
 |
| Casualties from the ice war |
 |
| One limb that ran the length of our house |
 |
| Duck River - dam overflowing |
 |
| Duck River - Flooded bankside |
 |
| Duck River - trees stuck on dam |
 |
| Duck River - Flood waters |
 |
| Duck River - swirling and flooded |
 |
| Duck River - during the summer, we're able to drive and park under the bridge on the beach |
copyright - All rights to the work posted on this site are retained by Cass Van Gelder. If you'd like to use some of my work, please ask. To do so, the permissions must be spelled out in writing...from me...I mean it. I have horribly mean cats; don't make me use them.
