We had an ice storm yesterday. It started in the middle of the night before, and was full-on by 7am. Schools and businesses were closed. I’d have stayed in my pajamas except that I had an important FaceTime appointment with my niece.

I chatted with my best friend, did the dishes, cleaned the washing machine, wrote a blog post. All day, sitting at the kitchen counter, I could hear the sleet hitting the side of the house. It was gray and rainy and 31 degrees.

In mid-afternoon, I was working on materials for my Fresh Hope group when the power began to flicker. The microwave oven clock kept beeping on and off.

The weather must have abated a little, because the cardinals braved the cold to come to the bird feeder. Icicles dripped off all the edges, but they didn’t seem deterred. The mourning doves came and marched around the crusty snow under the feeder.

Finally, at 5pm, the power went off for good. I walked around and shut all the blinds to keep the heat in. I put on socks inside my slippers. I lit all the candles throughout the house. Of course, because we just went through Daylight Savings Time, it was pitch black outside by 5:15pm!

I thought about reading my Kindle, but found myself staring into the flame of the candle and letting my mind wander. I texted my husband to warn him about the garage door not opening automatically, and asked him to pick up a bottle of wine on his way home. “Be safe!” I cautioned. I prayed for the power company employees, working out in the horrible weather, doing their best to restore power to 10,000 customers!

I unlocked the garage door, and when my husband got home, we cooked dinner on our gas stove. He lit the gas fireplace with a lighter. We drank the wine and watched the flames, then went to bed a little early.

The rain stopped in the middle of the night. The thermostat read 57 degrees in the house, so we added the comforter to the bed. When my husband’s alarm went off at 6am, he discovered that the plant and office were without power, so we went back to sleep for awhile.

We got up this morning to a cold house, but beautiful ice-encapsulated trees and bushes. After boiling some water for oatmeal, we decided to venture out for coffee (and to charge up our phones). We saw lots of trees and limbs down – some power lines, too.

The mountains in the distance glisten. The ice is beautiful in the sunshine.

Like glass and diamonds on the branches.