As many of you probably know, a devastating ice storm hit Oklahoma last Sunday. We lost our internet the first day which is why I haven’t been posting. Thank you for all of your lovely, thoughtful comments. They make the blog more interesting, and I’ll try to respond as soon as I can. I’m still without internet, so I drove into town to HH’s office and am typing on his laptop. We then lost our electricity on Tuesday. Lucky for us, our power was restored twelve hours later. Our home is fully electric, so I made hot dogs and blackbean soup (canned) in the fireplace, and the kids and I pretended we were camping. Over 100,000 homes and businesses lost power on Sunday and are still without electricity today. Please keep those folks in your prayers. This situation really hurts local businesses during the Christmas season.
I’ve taken some pictures to give you an idea of the beauty and devastation of the storm. We’ll start with the beauty. These leaves encased in ice were on my rugosa rose ‘Hansa.’ I took this while walking on our property Monday. 
Once the ice started to melt on Tuesday, tree limbs broke, snapping power lines. According to the local news, that’s when those without power climbed to over 600,000. Crews from many surrounding states including our friends from Texas and Louisiana came and are helping O.G.&E. The news stories I saw on my tiny, battery-operated television were fascinating and gave me hope. People stood in line for hours to purchase generators that were being delivered to stores. Some of those same people then gave up their hard won prizes to others who needed them worse. You gotta love that.
Debra,
That’s fascinating that we’re on NPR and “mulch” in reference to storm damage has got to be a new one. My internet has been down for a couple of days; not due to storm damage, but just wear and tear on my antennae and cables. I think they’ve got it fixed now, and I’ve been working on a post that I’ll get up today or tomorrow. BTW, I loved your Christmas card. Cloches are a favorite of mine.
Hi Dee, thought of you again this morning during an NPR news report about the state of emergency for several Oklahoma counties. The newsreader said that there will be enough mulch and wood chips from all the downed trees to cover the entire state for a year. Did I get that right? Amazing to hear the word “mulch” in a national newscast!
Get your chipper ready!
xoxodebra
The power is back on for most of the city, and I have internet again, so I’ll be able to read everyone’s comments.
Carol, your comment is accurate. Later, there were news stories about people stealing and doing other nasty things. I guess it is in people’s nature that some will rise to the occasion and do good, and others will take advantage. Still, most of what I heard was good.
Debra, yes, the essential is what all people think about during difficult times. Thanks for commenting. I can’t wait to see your blog again. I’ve missed my reading. xoxoxo
Wow, Dee. glad to hear that you’ve made it through what is probably the worst of it. Mother Nature is more powerful than we can ever imagine….and I’m inspired by your resourcefulness in coping with the storm damage, lack of electricity, and more. It’s similar to how people here in SoCal pulled together during the October wildfires. All the superfluous stuff gets whittled down to what is essential…our health, our loved ones, our basic survival needs.
So stay well and stay warm. How ironic that your prior post was about lighting a candle. I bet you and your children have lit many candles this past week. Blessings…xoxodkp
These kinds of events can either bring out the best in people or the worst in people. It sounds like it brought out the best in people this time. Must be the season!