Winter Storm Rising

Finally, we're getting some snow.....followed by what is predicted to be a significant ice storm. Up here on the north face of Storm King Mountain, that means we're likely to lose power for quite some time. So when I got home this afternoon, I knew that I needed to get a lot of firewood into the house in case the electricity goes out (the temperatures have been well below freezing, and no electricity....no furnace).

I began loading my wheelbarrow with firewood, pushing it from the barn to the house, and carrying the wood inside by the armload. I smiled to myself as I began my routine, which is always the same when it is time to stock up on firewood. I imagine myself as Laura Ingalls in "The Little House on the Prairie" (I loved her books when I was growing up). In that story, Ma and Pa had gone into town, leaving Laura at home with her blind sister Mary and baby sister Carrie. An unexpected blizzard blew in across the prairie, which Laura knew was trouble. If Ma and Pa had already left town, they would probably freeze to death out on the prairie. As frightened as she was, Laura knew it was imperative to get a big stock of firewood into the cabin before it was buried in snow, or she and her sisters would face a similar fate.

She bundled up, ran outside, and started carrying the firewood, determined to do what Pa would have done if he had been there. Hours later, as the parents returned safely through the storm, they found that Laura had carried the ENTIRE woodpile into the house!

So, corny as it may sound, I imagine that I am Laura and the carrying of the heavy wood goes by like it is nothing. All set here, and hunkered down against the storm!