My heart goes out to the folks with no power. An icy winter blast hit the midwest Friday December 19th covering everything (near me) with more than a 1/4 inch of ice. Trees are down everywhere and some neighborhoods look like a tornado went through. Downed limbs have hit power lines and knocked out power to thousands including me. Luckily we were back with service in one day, but there are still thousands with no power. Now with a sub-zero blast on the way, people are in danger of frozen pipes bursting. Also there was not a warming trend after the ice storm to melt the ice off of the limbs. So now with expected winds of 15-20 mph, the people with restored power (like me) are watching the ice covered limbs and praying.Not having power is very humbling. Everything we do revolves around having electricity. Heat and lighting are at the top, but we are so consumed with our lives that we take electricity for granted. When is the last time you had to poop without the exhaust fan creating the cover noise? How many times have you flipped the light switch out of habit even though you KNOW the power is out? So when your clock radio starts flashing 12:00, thank the utility workers for braving the dangers and elements to allow you to get on the internet again. Also give a shout out to the road crews that put in 14 hour days so you can get to Walmart at 3am.
