The recent ice storm and power outages altered the daily routines for many of us. Like many Green Country residents my family's home lost electrical power as the tree limbs snapped, crackled and popped under the weight of ice.
ABOVE PHOTO: I took this picture of my home just after the ice storm. On a normal day, you should actually see the house from this view!
While the power was out I slept in the cold house taking care of our dogs. Sleeping in a cold house?-- I've done that; the recent ice storm brought back childhood memories.
SLEEPING IN THE COLD BACK IN THE DAY: I grew up in a typical home setting and neighborhood in Orange, Texas. Orange compares to Okmulgee in population terms, and Orange sits on the TX/LA state line.
My parent's house in Orange where I grew up is a nice WW2 era frame home, and to this day it lacks central heat and air. Window unit air conditioners keep life comfortable during the hot and humid Summers. But the house gets quite cold on those rare cold outbreaks that reach the Texas coast. The large fireplace and floor furnace warm the living areas but don't do much for the unheated upstairs bedrooms.
Of course the weather in Orange didn't get as cold as what we experience in Oklahoma, but our house wasn't prepared well for the cold. On those few frozen nights I slept in a warm fuzzy hat and I buried myself under a zillion blankets. I remember my bedroom thermometer dropping into the 40s with window frost during the Christmas cold of 1983! That's just how things were back then with Mom and Dad.
Back to Oklahoma....Today the power is back on and so is the heater on most nights--it's a nice option!
BELOW PHOTO: I harvested my front yard after the storm. Ice + broken limbs + chain saw = lots of firewood.
