Will It Snow???

Today I'm thinking about snow.  It might snow tomorrow.  It might not.  It probably will NOT snow in Charleston, SC where I am right now, but it probably will snow back home in the hills where I was born and raised. 

When I was little, it snowed several times every winter.  I used to long for snow.  I loved pretty much everything about it except when the electricity would go off.  Actually, when I was really little, I didn't even mind that so much, as long as we had water and our oil or gas heater to keep us warm.  I really hated it when the pipes froze though.

I remember one year when I was young, it snowed knee deep back home, which is a lot for upstate South Carolina.  We built snowmen and broke through the ice in the horses' water so they could drink.  We made sure all the outside animals had food and blankets and a warm dry place to sleep. We slid down the hill on old cardboard or anything else we could get to slide.  We gathered snow for Mama and watched her make homemade snow cream.  She never measured anything, but it was always good. 

Afterwards, we'd gather around the gas space heater in Mama's den.  Red faced with cold fingers and toes and big bowls of snow cream on our laps.  We laughed and talked and ate snow cream until we just about popped. 

Those were the days, my friends.

When my own sons were little, it snowed less those winters, but it always snowed at least once.  Here is a photo of my eldest son, Dave, and our dog, Lady (aka: the BEST dog in the world!) back in the 1970s.

Lady's tail is wagging so fast that you can not see it!  Lady LOVED playing in the snow with her boys.  I may have given birth to those sons, but they really belonged to Lady, or so she believed.  She spent many long hours trying to round them up.  They never herded worth nothing.  Poor Lady girl. She was an Australian Shepherd and took her shepherding seriously. She just kept trying. Wagging that tail and smiling the whole time.  She was such a good dog!

Here is a photo of me in the snow in the 1980s.

By that time my boys were pre-teen and/or teenagers and mainly wanted to sled or have snowball fights! We had so much fun back then.  We'd take the sleds up the mountain to Batchelor Drive and slide down the road all the way to Dolittle Bridge.  Someone with chains on their tires (a family member or one of the neighbors) would follow in the truck to pick us up and take us back up the hill.  Then off we'd go again!  You could get up to 55 mph on those sleds going down that steep hill for a couple of miles or so before getting to the bottom.   Great groups of us would go together and slide.  So much fun!  Yes.  I know.  Very dangerous, but it sure was fun!

After I moved to Charleston, SC, I almost never saw snow, but it did snow about 9 or so years ago, and I took this photo of my good boy, Buster.  It clearly lets you know exactly what he thought of snow.  This may have been the first time he had ever seen snow.  Let's just say he didn't like it.  

I miss Buster so much.  Cancer is a horrible thing. Please pray for a cure!!  But I digress....

My girl, Dolly wouldn't even go that far out into the snow.  She would just step off the deck to do her business and back inside she would come.  That stuff was slippery and it just didn't look like you could trust it.  -grin-  I LOVE DOGS!

I have more snow pictures I'd like to show you, but they have not been scanned.  There is a project for my retirement.  Scan my literally thousands of photos, so I can more easily share them!!

Now I'm wondering what my boy, Stark, would do in snow.   I wonder if he has ever seen snow?  He was three when I adopted him in 2013, so he may have come from the frozen north for all I know.  I have to wonder.  I kinda hope it does snow so I can see what Stark does.  Can't control the weather though...at least not yet!

Cross your fingers and do a snow dance tonight!  Maybe it'll work!

Hurricane Matthew's Destruction Images - Charleston, South Carolina

Someone mentioned to me yesterday how they were glad Charleston was not hit hard by Hurricane Matthew.  I beg to differ.  It was a bad storm.

Here is some photographic evidence for you:

5 Days Ago - nhpr.org

5 Days Ago - abcnews.go.com

4 Days Ago - fortune.com

4 Days Ago - rigorousintuition.ca

4 Days Ago - businessinsider.com

Information below from the Charleston City Paper.  To read the full article click HERE.

Comparing Matthew
Here's how Matthew sized up to the last two significant hurricanes to rock the Holy City.

	Hugo	Floyd	Matthew
Wind speed (mph)	135	81	69
Rainfall (inches)	5.9	3.99	9.4
People evacuated	264,000	410,000	355,000
Surge level	8.5 ft.	–	6 ft.
Days evacuated before storm	2	2	2

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Post Hurricane Matthew: Day 3: No Power, Night 3: POWER!!!

Just before dark on the 3rd night after Hurricane Matthew hit Charleston, SC my power came on!!!

Okay.  I don't look exactly like He-Man, what with being female and all, and brunette and 61 years old and such, but I'm pretty sure this picture is exactly how I felt when my electricity finally came back on!!! 

I knew it was coming.  I took the dogs on our nearly longest walk around the neighborhood today.  I did the 2.5 mile version of our walk since the weather was so wonderful.  Well, truth be told, it was more of a 2.5 mile stroll, as the dogs and I stopped and talked to everyone along the way.  

Seriously, I have the BEST neighbors on this planet.  I really love my neighborhood and will miss them all when I move.  I won't miss Charleston summers at all though.

As I was walking one of the neighbors and I got into a discussion about whether or not the wire down on Ashley Hall Road was indeed a power line.  I insisted, "It is a power line." The man thought it was just a stabilizer line that holds the pole in place.  Another man had argued with me earlier that it was just a cable line.  I asked the neighbor to come look at the line with me and let me show him why I thought it was a power line.

When he really looked and saw what I saw, he agreed.  The actual power line was broken and laying on the ground on Ashley Hall Road.  Not good.

As we were standing there talking, SCE&G trucks came.  Yup.  The actual power line was down.  I walked across the street and talked with another neighbor who was equally excited to see SCE&G on the scene.  He told me he heard that transformer blow.  He said one of his neighbors called him because he thought his house had exploded it was so loud!  When that transformer blew it broke that power line all the way in two and knocked off all our power.

What happened was there was a tree limb that hit the lines and transformer.  No.  There was no tree over the power line there.  It looked exactly like the Jolly Green Giant somehow grabbed a big tree limb and plopped it down directly over the top of that pole on all the power lines and hitting the transformer.  I have no clue how that limb could have done that on its own.  It was the craziest thing I've ever seen, but there you have it.  Crazy.

The SCE&G workers fixed everything and I saw them leaving on my way back from walking through Lenevar Park with my dogs.  I walked all the way back to where the line was down to see if they really fixed it.  They did!

The dogs and I walked on home.  Still no power, but I expected that.  I knew they'd have to test the new line before turning everything back on.  Sure enough, just before dark...POWER!!!

I feel like singing and dancing!!  But, instead, I went straight for my fridge and threw away all my food.  Sad.  I know, but everything defrosted and I'm afraid to eat it.  Stouffer's good stuff.  Costco meatballs.  Hamburger.  Hotdogs.  Chicken.  Veggies.  All ruined.  I think the cheese and butter will be okay.  The milk was sour.  The juice seems fine.  Etc etc etc.  I then made a run to the grocery store.

Wow.

You would NOT believe the grocery store.  

On a Monday night there were about a gazillion people in there. Amazing. A good many of the shelves were still bare from the mad shopping before the storm.  The grocery store people had thrown out all their frozen stuff and only had a small portion of it restocked.  Plus, ALL the Chunky Soup was gone!  ALL of it!  I've never seen such a thing.  The employees looked haggard and tired like they had been running all day long, which they probably had.

I found everything I needed to buy right now, and am now home with my dirty feet up typing this blog post.  Do not worry.  I will wash before bed.

Now I'm thinking about how everything happens for a reason.

A couple of weeks ago, I came home from work one day to find that one of my flood lights in my backyard was arcing.  It had to be removed and replaced right away.  I made a trip to Lowe's and ended up buying a head flashlight so I could see to replace the light that night. 

That head flashlight was a godsend with the power off so long.  I looked like a dork wearing it, I'm sure, but I could see everything and had both my hands free.  It was great, and if my floodlight had not broken, I would not have had the head flashlight.  

Also, if we were going to have a hurricane, this was the very best possible time for it to happen for me.  It is October and in Hurricane Matthew's wake was such a blast of wonderful clear cool air that I was able to breathe with no power in my house for days.  

I am truly blessed and I know it and I am thankful.

I am also very happy because I presently have my coffeemaker set to make me coffee right before my alarm goes off in the morning.  Life is good! 😀

Hurricane Matthew: No Power: Day 2

My neighbors in front and beside me have power now, but I'm sitting in the dark typing this on my laptop. No power for me yet.

SCE&G assures me they are working on it, and I know they are, but water is dripping from my freezer, so I'm losing all my food which makes me not happy.

Still, I am blessed. The weather behind Hurricane Matthew is glorious!!! It is supposed to be 55 degrees tonight! I will be able to sleep and breathe at the same time at 55 degrees.

Another happy thing happened today too.  I discovered something that I haven't thought about in years.

Today, for the first time since I grew to adulthood, I felt at home.

Everyone had their doors and windows open.  They were pretty much all outside cleaning up their yards.  Their children were playing outside.  Squealing and running around and having fun.  People were walking and riding bikes all around the neighborhood.  They were telling each other all about their harrowing experiences.

Most of my neighbors, as well as myself, stayed put for the hurricane, but some evacuated and came home with travel tales.  Adventures shared with their cars full of children and pets.  Sitting in traffic.  Camping.  Hotels.  The works.

Their dogs were so happy to be home. They bounced around excited and smiling, as is the nature of dogs.  Cats were meowing their displeasure at having been uprooted and generally inconvenienced, as is the nature of cats.

Then I looked at my sturdy little house and thought to myself, "This is how the neighborhood sounded when my house was born."

My house was built in the 1950s.  It has existed through all the decades of my life, so we have a lot in common.  It must have soaked up the emotions of all those decades too, but today, as I looked at it, I think if houses could talk it would tell me it liked today best of all the days I've lived in it.  

It was a happy day.  No electricity, but a very happy day.

Having said that, I'm thinking I sure hope my electricity comes back on tonight or tomorrow!  I'm thankful to have my car to charge my phone and other electronics, but electricity is so much more convenient and I do love a hot shower.

Thankfully I have water!!  Yay!

I am truly blessed and I know it and I am thankful!  😇

10-9-2016 7:00 PM SCE&G Outages

Click the photo for a larger view.  SCE&G really is working on the electrical outages. This number is now 49,739 without power, which is down from over 110,000 last night. Maybe my power will come on tomorrow. I hope.

Hurricane Matthew: The Aftermath

Another hurricane come and gone. My electricity has been off about 24 hours so far, but I survived.

If you could value your property by how good your neighbors are, I would have to charge at least a billion dollars for my little cinderblock house when I retire and move to the mountains next year.  I'm convinced that I have the best neighbors on the planet.  I never even felt alone during the storm because I knew they were nearby and would help me if I needed help.  Most of my neighbors stayed for the storm.

My neighbors are the industrious sort.  None of us have electricity, but they were out in force yesterday cleaning and clearing their yards of debris.  Me?  I don't have the energy for it.  It'll get cleaned up eventually, but not today.

I seriously need coffee.  Real coffee.  I may have to venture out into the parts of the world that have power and can easily make coffee.  I have a camp stove, but I can't take the heat of it, so I won't turn it on. 

It got down to 66 degrees outside last night, but it never got below 73 inside the house even with the windows open.  The cinderblocks are thick and strong, so the temperature inside the house won't change much.

It will be in the 80s today in Charleston.  Summer will just not let go.  October used to be my favorite of all the months because it meant cool weather.  Not this year.  I heard a weatherman say Hurricane Matthew was the result of us having two Septembers and no October this year.  I believe him. 

Here are a couple of photos of the debris.  Mainly just sticks and small leaves.  I sure dread having to take the leaf blower to my roof when the power comes back on, but other than that, all is well.  The roof did not leak.  No real damage.  I am blessed!  

I'm also blessed that my car can charge my phone, so I still have the internet.  When I think of people alone during hurricanes without modern technology, I have to shudder.  Just imagine how that must have felt.  No one to tell them it was almost over.  No one to tell them anything.  

Yes.  I am blessed and I know it, and I am very very thankful.

Friday. A Few Hours Before Hurricane Matthew - A Diary Entry, October 7, 2016

South Carolina's Governor Haley and her band of back-up officials remind me of used car salesmen. 

Have I mentioned that I hate pretty much all sales people?  I especially hate used car salesmen, except the folks at Carmax who don't lie to you.

Today these government and local officials are telling me bold-faced lies on the television.  Seriously. It makes me angry.  They need to remember that they are talking to adults who vote.

One person just said on TV a little earlier that only people who have never experienced a hurricane before are staying.  LIE!  One of my neighbors who is staying has lived here more than 70 years and NEVER left for any of the hurricanes in all that time.

Don't lie to me.

Here is what the National Weather Service is saying as of this morning. Click the picture for a better view.

The weatherman that I trust, Rob Fowler, is no longer announcing.  They have a new fear mongering man yelling the weather report in an anxious voice. What he is actually saying is what you see above, but he is saying it like it will be Hugo.  It will NOT be Hugo.

I do not trust the television anymore.  What the TV officials are saying and what the National Weather Service is saying are two different things.  They are trying to scare people into leaving the area.  I believe it is because they will lose control of the populace for a few hours and the smaller that populace is the better they will feel.  

I have had herding dogs most of my life.  These dogs will protect their "herd" (I'm the only herd my herders have today.) with their lives.  They feel the need to keep the herd orderly and rounded up so that they can see each member of the herd at all times.  

Humans that work in law enforcement, healthcare, and government agencies have a LOT in common with herding dogs.

Now that the window is closing for evacuation, they are trying to herd those of us that are left into one of the shelters that they have created and that they can watch closely.  Those shelters are no safer than my house, but they can not see inside my house, so they'd like me to leave. 

Herding dogs.

Now.  Having said that, I will add that herding dogs are the most loyal and loving dogs you will ever encounter.  They are sincerely concerned for the welfare of their herd.  They are desperate to protect the herd because of their love for the individual members of that herd.

Yes.  Many humans have the same qualities as herding dogs.  

However, these particular people on my TV today are lying to me.  Herding dogs do NOT lie.  Only humans lie.  I don't mind them trying to persuade me to their side by using truth and valid arguments, but when they resort to lies, I can NOT believe anything they say.

Also, when they are telling me to evacuate NOW while they are standing in the same place I am, that is hypocrisy.  There is only one thing I hate worse than a lie and that is hypocrisy.  It reminds me of when I was little and Mama would say a curse word but whip me if I said the same word.  I HATE double-standards.  

That "do as I say not as I do" thing really makes me crazy.

Hurricane Matthew will hit Charleston as a CAT 1 hurricane and then turn into Tropical Storm Matthew.  It will flood.  There will be a storm surge for low-lying areas only.  There will be very large waves.  Trees may fall.  Power may go off for days.  Roofs may fail.  Homes may be destroyed especially if tornadoes are spawned from the hurricane.

All this "might" happen.  Some of this "will" happen, but I have more than mights and wills to consider.

I may have to work Monday along with a bazillion other people who evacuated and will all be trying to drive back home Sunday.  

They reversed the lanes to escape.  You are on your own getting back.  I predict that traffic will be a nightmare and people who ran from the storm to save their lives will lose their lives in accidents caused by the nightmare traffic full of stressed out drivers.

I also have to remember, the looters will NOT leave.  They never leave.  In fact, a lot of strangers are walking around my neighborhood looking at the houses as I type.  The looters scare me more than the storm.

I'm too angry at the lies on my television to type anymore today.  My apologies for venting to you, but it all needed to be said. 

Please don't lie.  Please stay as safe as you can wherever you are.  Please say your prayers if you are religious.  Please wish or hope for the best if you are not religious.  

I will post again tomorrow if I have electricity.  If not, you may not hear from me for awhile.  

---

October 7, 2016 - 2:00 PM - The rain has begun. The bathtub is full of water.  A big container of water is freezing in my freezer and a big container of ice is sitting in my fridge.  Lots of extra water is in containers.  My car is parked at my neighbor's house on higher ground that did not flood last year during the 1000 year flood.  Now I wait.

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October 7, 2016 - 2:00 PM - The weatherman, Rob Fowler, is back announcing!  Yay!  I trust him. He does NOT try to scare me more than the storm warrants.  He just gives me the facts.

I like that.

The latest predictions have Hurricane Matthew hitting as a hurricane...possibly a CAT 2 Hurricane.  The next 24 hours will be harrowing. Click the picture for a better view.

Two Days Till Hurricane Matthew Does His Worst in Charleston, SC: A Diary Entry

Today is the Thursday morning before Hurricane Matthew hits Charleston, SC.  A crow is yelling right outside my window.  This can't be a good sign.

Governor Nikki Haley announced this morning that 175,000 people have evacuated the Charleston, SC area so far.  She estimated that 250,000 people needed to evacuate, so I'm not the only person staying here.

Hurricane Matthew is a CAT 3 hurricane right now down in the Bahamas.  He won't arrive here to do his damage until Friday night at the earliest.  The worst will happen Saturday.  He has to hit Florida first.  If he stays CAT 3, I will evacuate tomorrow morning.  If he weakens to CAT 2 or a Tropical Storm, I will stay. 

Evacuating with two very large (over 50 lbs each) dogs is not as simple as just leaving.  I have friends and family who have offered me a place to stay in Upstate SC and NC, but my bringing two huge cat-eating house dogs with me is asking a lot of them.  I won't go unless I fear for my life.  

I will NOT leave my dogs.

Unfortunately my house is in the actual hurricane window near the coast.  I'm only about 10 miles from the Atlantic as the crow flies or the hurricane blows...13 miles as the car drives.  Saturday will be the bad day.  

Speculation.

Everything is speculation.

A big part of my adult life has centered around data collection and reporting.  The data has to be correct and set in stone.  Black or white.  No room for gray.  Meteorology is totally gray.  Nothing is guaranteed.  Makes me crazy.  

Still, even with the wishy washy weather predictions, later today I am going to run a lot of water up just in case.  Fill up the bathtub. Fill up the washing machine.  Fill up lots and lots of containers with lids.  Better to not need it and have it than to need it and not have it.

My dogs drink a LOT of water and they will need clean water.  I will need water for coffee and/or tea and the toilet if the water isn't running at all.  I don't have a generator, but I do have a very nice camp stove/kerosene heater, so I can make coffee. 

My nebulizer won't work with no electricity, so I'll have to rely on my regular inhaler.  Hopefully that will be enough.  It would be stupid of me to think my asthma won't raise its ugly head with the air pressure bucking like a rodeo bronco.  

Yesterday I put all my porch plants and furniture into my garage.  I took down my bird feeder outside my kitchen window too, much to the dismay of the worst of my squirrel bird feeder thieves.  He climbed all the way up on my house and jumped down to my windowsill only to find the bird seed missing.  Poor confused thing.  Serves him right.  

The birds knock plenty of seed down on the ground that the squirrels can eat.  They don't have to take all the seed out of the feeder all the time.  Ugh.

I will move my car to my neighbors' house tonight or tomorrow morning for the storm because the whole neighborhood will probably flood.  Their driveway is on high ground and was okay during last year's 1000 year flood.  The wind may still blow something into my car, but I'm more afraid of the flood.  The flood water will be brine.  Everything it touches will rust or rot.  

I've been in the Charleston area since 1995 and have lived through a lot of really bad weather.  Hurricanes. Tropical storms. Floods  (lots and lots and lots of floods).

I can not wait to retire and move to the mountains!  So many reasons to look forward to retirement.  I have never been a beach person.

I'm going to bathe the dogs today, and cook some good food so I won't have to worry about food for a couple of days or more. 

There have been strangers walking through the neighborhood this morning.  I've never seen them before.  They've been coming in twos and small groups as well as alone.  Probably looters checking to see who left.  

Looters are the scum of the earth.  There has to be a special place in Hell for looters.

I have lights on and my blinds open so I can stare at them as they pass.  Some are talking into their cell phones as they look back and forth at the houses.  Pond scum.

A bird just flew into my picture window and knocked itself silly.  Now it has climbed up my screen looking in my window at me.  Looked like a female cardinal.  That can't be a good sign.  It just flew away.

A man is singing, "I got angels on my side," on the television.  Maybe that is a good sign?

-sigh-

I'm as ready for the storm as I can get, I guess.

Now. I wait.

Hurricane Matthew: Wednesday Before Landfall in Charleston, SC: A True Story

My workplace closed at 5:30 PM yesterday (Tuesday) and began evacuation of the students.  It took me about an hour to do my normal 15 minute drive home.  There was so much traffic that I didn't stop for gas thinking I'd go later after the traffic had time to clear.

The traffic still has not cleared.

Last night I ventured out to buy that gasoline for my car.  Wow. I have not seen gas lines like that since the gas shortages in the 1970s. The cars where lined everywhere, and many gas stations were actually out of gas.  It took me an hour to find a station with a line I could safely enter and after waiting in line another hour, the car in front of me pumped the last of the regular gasoline.  Thank God they still had "Plus" gasoline, so I paid more, but I filled up with gas.  My tank was nearly empty.   

Roughly 700,000 people live in the greater Charleston, SC area not counting tourists and business travelers.  It looked like a fairly high percentage of those people were buying gas last night.  Many were obviously on their way out of town with cars packed with pillows and luggage and people.  What a nightmare.

Today (Wednesday) everything is still and gray. Not even a breeze is stirring the leaves this morning.  It's as if the whole world is holding its breath in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew.

When I opened my window blinds first thing, I saw what looked like a Carolina dog with a collar wandering loose in the neighborhood sniffing at all the garbage containers awaiting pick-up today.  (I sure hope they pick up the garbage today otherwise all that garbage will be projectiles in the wind.)  By the time I jerked on some clothes to go catch the dog to keep it safe, it was gone.  

I'm worried about the dog.  Today is mandatory evacuation day for close to a million people. The traffic will be astounding.  The poor dog may be hit by a car or worse.

I wonder if its family evacuated and abandoned the dog outside to fend for itself?  Maybe thinking it the best thing to do given that their house may be destroyed and if the dog was left inside, it would be trapped and killed.

Sometimes I really hate humans.  Okay.  MOST of the time I really hate humans.  To me leaving a dog behind is the same as leaving a child behind.  I will NOT leave my dogs.

Now there are sirens sounding.  Probably a wreck.  Unfortunately the traffic will have no place to go to yield for emergency vehicles today.  There are just too many cars.  I pity those whose lives hang in the balance.  

South Carolina's governor is speaking on television right now.  She did say, "Take care of your pets," but she gave no information as to how to really do that when most hotels and shelters do not allow pets, and if you get in that evacuation traffic, you are stuck and will not be able to get out of that traffic to even use the bathroom, which makes a lot of people not want to have pets in their cars.  For those who have no transportation, they are sending buses to take them to Greenville, SC, but pets are not allowed on the buses.

I'm staying in Charleston for right now, but as the storm approaches, I might leave, but not in today's traffic and not via I-26.  At this moment they are saying Charleston will definitely flood (nothing new...Charleston floods every time it rains hard), hurricane force winds are possible, but tropical storm force winds are more likely.  If it is only a tropical storm when it hits us, then I should stay here with my dogs.  If it hits as a CAT 2 hurricane, then I should still stay here with my dogs.  If it is going to hit as a CAT 3 hurricane, then I should leave and sleep in my car if necessary for one or two nights.  We shall see what happens. 

The looters will not leave.  I have to also take that into consideration as I make my decision.

Today I plan to batten down the hatches, bring everything moveable that is outside inside.  Bathe the dogs in case I have to evacuate, as clean, brushed, well-mannered, groomed dogs will be more welcome anyplace than dirty stinky dogs.  

I'm also going to keep a close eye on the news and weather, but most importantly, I am going to pray.  I am going to pray for all the people who can not evacuate. For all the people in the hospitals.   For all the people stuck in the traffic.  For all those who are stressed and panicked and worried about loved ones.  For all those who will be missing work because of the storm and won't be able to pay their bills this month.  I am going to pray for all the abandoned pets and for all the wildlife birds and animals in Matthew's path, and I am going to pray for guidance.  

If I do not post for a few days or longer, it is because I am evacuating or because my electricity is off.  I'll keep in touch as I can.  I honestly can not wait to retire and move to mountains!  There are no hurricanes in the mountains as a general rule.  I will not miss hurricanes when I go.

Projected Path and Intensity from weather.com