The Rare Snow

In the midst of a very cold week, bitter wind, surprising snow, power outage, and shivery mornings, we have this beautiful joy to warm our hearts: Anna and Gramm are engaged!

in 2011

Another precious couple, my parents. My wonderful daddy is very ill and in the hospital. He is 89 and has struggled against diabetes, and then a stroke, for many years, but the battle is hard, and he is weary. I plan to drive to West Virginia on Saturday to spend some time with them. We hope he will rally, but he has had two small heart attacks in the past week.

last February

I have always been my daddy's little girl. We have a special, unspoken, mutually-understood love and devotion for each other. My daddy is a strong man. He has a strong will, can be stubborn and hard to handle, but he's also utterly dependable and solid when you need him to be.The world, and especially God's kingdom, has been a better place because of his work in it.

We had a heavy snow, for our area -- about 4 inches. The ice that accompanied it caused power outage, and our little farm house grew quite chilly, reaching 46 degrees in the house before a power crew repaired the line and we started to warm our home again. What a day! All the emotions of joy and sorrow were a bit too much for me, and I crashed somewhat before the lights came back on. Here are some more photos of the snow. 

Our house is all electric. The only heat source available that doesn't rely on Duke Energy is this little portable oven -- not really a grill. It runs on a small propane tank. Adam set it up on our front porch -- which, with the sunshine, quickly became warmer than the house! -- and cooked some bacon and eggs for breakfast. It was a very sweet gesture, but sadly nothing would cheer me except the presence of four truckloads of burly men from Raleigh, wrangling the electrical wires in our side yard.

Life is constantly changing. It seems we never really get a good chance to stop, relax, and catch our breath, much less really get our bearings. I find myself saying repeatedly, "When life slows down a little, I'll do such-and-such." Life never slows down. One must snatch the quick opportunities to do all the such-and-suches whether one is rested or not. There are many little and big things going on in life right now, but they will all wait (or be neglected) because I want to be with my daddy and my mother. It will be a cold road to the mountains, but the inner fire of family love will keep me going. 
Stay warm out there, everyone!