Praying for Rain
We are nearly one month into daylight savings time and my alarm clock still does not know it. It faithfully rings at 5:30, which is actually 6:30, but that's OK since I don't need to get up that early anyway since Hiromi got laid off and does not have a job to go to. It's annoying though to have to go back to the bedroom from wherever I am in the house to shut off that bleeping alarm.
We are one week into spring and in the middle of a blizzard, after a winter with very little snow or rain. The brave little greenhouse that withstood wind gusts to 60 MPH last week is covered with a snow load it was not designed to carry, even after Hiromi took the push broom out and dragged the snow off. ("Bring in the canopy if heavy snow is expected.") The plants are huddled under a second layer of plastic which I covered them with, thinking it might go down to 28 degrees as predicted. A little electric space heater valiantly pushes back against the cold and the temperature has stayed at 39 degrees or higher so far. Solar gain is nil during a blizzard though, and I'm praying hard over those plants.
This time of year I'm tempted to feel angry about the weather, which seems ruthless and unfair sometimes when the wind is wild and the temperatures are brutal. All that is mixed in with perfectly lovely balmy and sunny days when all seems right with the world, and we are easily tricked into trusting the elements too far.
The temperature is to go down to 22 degrees tonight, and the wind is to stay at about 25-30 MPH, with gusts to 39 through tomorrow forenoon. Visibility is poor and US 50 2 miles away is closed. My father and his fellow ministers are stranded in Atlanta en route home from the minister's meetings in Florida. Dad is concerned about Lowell's cows calving during this blizzard. When he's home, he faithfully keeps tabs on them. They're here on the farm where we live.
Spring Celebration in Pleasantview is canceled for the first time in history. And Pilgrim students didn't get an extra day off from school because they were already on spring break.
Shane and Dorcas finished their day's work on Thursday and drove home in snow, checked the weather and road conditions between Penrose, CO and here, threw their clothes together, and headed out for the weekend. It looked like they might be able to outrun the storm moving this way from CO within the first hour or so. They were coming for the commissioning of Dorcas' sister and husband, who plan to leave for a new home in Thailand this week. About five miles from home, when they got to US 50, the road had been closed to traffic, due to a five-car pileup. It was just as well, since they could hardly see to drive because of blowing snow. They went back home and are still there, hoping to leave again tomorrow morning, with hopes that the storm will have exited this area before they enter it. Skies are blue in Penrose.
Hiromi and I transplanted tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc. at the dining room table this afternoon. We had planned to do that inside the greenhouse. I've run out of space under the grow lights, so these poor plants will sit somewhere in the semi-dark till next Tuesday or so when it gets warm enough to move them into the light of the greenhouse. Every night and every day till then will be too cold. Dark will hurt them less than cold.
Predictions are for the snow to be as deep as 15 inches before it quits. It's hard to tell how much has fallen because the surface is either bare or under drifts--none of the nice even layers I hear they get in some places.
Grant, who is sure that his mother does not know much about these things, headed out tonight for Kenney's house where Marc will pick him up early tomorrow morning to go clear snow off parking lots in Hutchinson. In my opinion, that is not Grant's responsibility (Who in their right mind will be out in those parking lots anyway?), and he had no business going anywhere tonight. He spun and slid in the driveway before he made it to the road. I don't think there are roads open all the way between here and Kenny's house. (P.S. Hiromi just now called him to see where he was. He was at Kenny's house. "Tell Mom I stayed on the road the whole time. Neener.")
Blizzards are fine by me if no one has to go anywhere, and if we have electricity throughout. They are far less disastrous than last winter's ice storm. But someone always does have to go out to meet obligations somewhere, and doing regular farm chores can be hideously complicated by a blizzard, so I could not, in good conscience, wish for a blizzard. But if God thinks of it, what can I say?
We've been praying for rain. Silly us. It was snow we needed, and only God knew.
We are one week into spring and in the middle of a blizzard, after a winter with very little snow or rain. The brave little greenhouse that withstood wind gusts to 60 MPH last week is covered with a snow load it was not designed to carry, even after Hiromi took the push broom out and dragged the snow off. ("Bring in the canopy if heavy snow is expected.") The plants are huddled under a second layer of plastic which I covered them with, thinking it might go down to 28 degrees as predicted. A little electric space heater valiantly pushes back against the cold and the temperature has stayed at 39 degrees or higher so far. Solar gain is nil during a blizzard though, and I'm praying hard over those plants.
This time of year I'm tempted to feel angry about the weather, which seems ruthless and unfair sometimes when the wind is wild and the temperatures are brutal. All that is mixed in with perfectly lovely balmy and sunny days when all seems right with the world, and we are easily tricked into trusting the elements too far.
The temperature is to go down to 22 degrees tonight, and the wind is to stay at about 25-30 MPH, with gusts to 39 through tomorrow forenoon. Visibility is poor and US 50 2 miles away is closed. My father and his fellow ministers are stranded in Atlanta en route home from the minister's meetings in Florida. Dad is concerned about Lowell's cows calving during this blizzard. When he's home, he faithfully keeps tabs on them. They're here on the farm where we live.
Spring Celebration in Pleasantview is canceled for the first time in history. And Pilgrim students didn't get an extra day off from school because they were already on spring break.
Shane and Dorcas finished their day's work on Thursday and drove home in snow, checked the weather and road conditions between Penrose, CO and here, threw their clothes together, and headed out for the weekend. It looked like they might be able to outrun the storm moving this way from CO within the first hour or so. They were coming for the commissioning of Dorcas' sister and husband, who plan to leave for a new home in Thailand this week. About five miles from home, when they got to US 50, the road had been closed to traffic, due to a five-car pileup. It was just as well, since they could hardly see to drive because of blowing snow. They went back home and are still there, hoping to leave again tomorrow morning, with hopes that the storm will have exited this area before they enter it. Skies are blue in Penrose.
Hiromi and I transplanted tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc. at the dining room table this afternoon. We had planned to do that inside the greenhouse. I've run out of space under the grow lights, so these poor plants will sit somewhere in the semi-dark till next Tuesday or so when it gets warm enough to move them into the light of the greenhouse. Every night and every day till then will be too cold. Dark will hurt them less than cold.
Predictions are for the snow to be as deep as 15 inches before it quits. It's hard to tell how much has fallen because the surface is either bare or under drifts--none of the nice even layers I hear they get in some places.
Grant, who is sure that his mother does not know much about these things, headed out tonight for Kenney's house where Marc will pick him up early tomorrow morning to go clear snow off parking lots in Hutchinson. In my opinion, that is not Grant's responsibility (Who in their right mind will be out in those parking lots anyway?), and he had no business going anywhere tonight. He spun and slid in the driveway before he made it to the road. I don't think there are roads open all the way between here and Kenny's house. (P.S. Hiromi just now called him to see where he was. He was at Kenny's house. "Tell Mom I stayed on the road the whole time. Neener.")
Blizzards are fine by me if no one has to go anywhere, and if we have electricity throughout. They are far less disastrous than last winter's ice storm. But someone always does have to go out to meet obligations somewhere, and doing regular farm chores can be hideously complicated by a blizzard, so I could not, in good conscience, wish for a blizzard. But if God thinks of it, what can I say?
We've been praying for rain. Silly us. It was snow we needed, and only God knew.
posted by Mrs. I at
6:01 PM
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