Thursday, February 03, 2011

Freezing Rain

We're getting our first wintry mix in Louisiana. A gentle rain is falling and immediately freezing to exposed surfaces. Those things like roadways are still warm enough that the rain doesn't immediately freeze, but things like my lawn chairs are coated in ice.

A thin skim of ice doesn't bother some folks in more northern climes but here in sub-tropical Louisiana, it shuts us down. The bridges are closing, one at a time and the elevated portions of I-49 are already shut down.

Milady is inside at the hospital, warm, safe and secure. She's still hurting, but beginning to chafe at the inactivity of laying in bed all day long. I take that as a good sign. I left there at about 8:00 p.m. and I'll go back in the morning as soon as the roads thaw out. PawPaw is at home safe and secure, and the dog is being fed saltine crackers.

We don't do ice real well, and I bet that y'all don't do hurricanes real well. It's all what we're used to, and we ain't used to this.

6 comments:

J said...

My problem out here in the woods is the power lines don't do ice very well. Well, the lines do, but the adjacent trees don't. I've already had to go out and push a pine out of the road so the snailmail lady could get through, plus the electricity is blinking off and on. If a wind rises, I could be running on wood and propane for several days.... But at least I'm prepared to do that--most aren't.

Termite said...

J said...
If a wind rises, I could be running on wood and propane for several days.... But at least I'm prepared to do that--most aren't.

Junior,
I used to be amazed at the foolishness and total lack of preparation by some people who you would think are otherwise fairly intelligent. The wife and I once had a neighbor/friend come by to borrow a flashlight during a power outage, because she and her husband didn't have one. Nor did she have a non-electric can opener. They(her family) was eating cereal.
She was stunned that we were having smothered pork chops over rice(cooked on our Coleman propane stove), while watching KALB TV 5 news on the 12 volt 9" TV/VCP that we used in the minivan for the kids(I hooked it up to the trolling motor battery).

What can you say about such people? Other than: "You're stupid. Here's your sign."......?

Old NFO said...

Yeah, preps for Hurricanes and Ice ARE pretty similar though! Food, fuel and batteries work for both, and travel is NOT a good idea! Stay safe!

J said...

Termite, I sometimes think 1/2 of Americans, even SOUTHERN Americans, don't have sense enough to come in out of the rain. Living where I live, it's a rare winter when I don't have an electrical outage lasting several days. Heck, I have a woodstove and a pile of wood, a 150 gal propane tank for the house, two 5 gal propane tanks for the ol' fish cooker, several 1 lb propane bottles for the camping stove and the camping light, and battery lanterns and flashlights--all with fresh batteries. Lunch today was a big ol' sweet tater wrapped in foil and cooked in the woodstove coals.

oyster said...

Warm wishes in this cold season to the Missus, and her continued recovery.

Problem with ice storms down here is that even the few who are equipped and experienced enough to handle it can't account for all those dunderheads who are out when they shouldn't be, making things even more dangerous. My advice: Put off the work and stay inside with some adult beverages.

Termite said...

J said: Lunch today was a big ol' sweet tater wrapped in foil and cooked in the woodstove coals.Needed mustard greens and corn bread to be a three course meal.....