We went for a walk last  week, it was warm, and there wasn’t any snow on the road. The Canada geese were honking and flying north, we heard Sandhill cranes calling from the marsh–spring is almost here. But winter isn’t over, yet– this week proved that. Most of us in the area still talk of blizzards in the middle of March and April, snow in May, and the dreaded ice storms of February and March that we have experienced.

The first year I lived on the farm there was an ice storm. For three plus days we didn’t have electricity, something we usually take for granted. Without it the well pump couldn’t run, we didn’t have drinking water, bath water or water to flush the toilet. Luckily the farm came with an outhouse.  For light we used candles and oil lamps. What an introduction to farm living!

But there were some good things that came from that storm: my husband had the outside electrical lines buried, we no longer worried about live wires during a storm, and I always prepare to hunker down when a storm is forecast.

Like everyone else I stock up on the essential foods, put wood in the basement to supply the fireplace which I’ve used to cook our meals. Pitchers are filled with water for drinking. Buckets are filled with water to flush the toilet as the outhouse is gone. As for everything else, it can wait.

We prepare for what we can during late winter storms, and then hope that spring is really around the corner as we listen to the winds howling around the house.