Officially, we got about 2 inches of snow. I say, ‘officially,’ because official statistics usually don’t apply to being on top of our ridge line outside of Greenwood, which is outside of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
However much we got, you can no longer see that we HAVE a concrete pad in front of our porch in the front of our house. You can no longer see that we HAVE a driveway at all. The temperature was 1 degree this morning, according to the local weather office. It’s 8 here now with a wind chill. Even if the sun came out and the temperature went above freezing (not expected until at least Wednesday) our driveway will be the last thing in the city to thaw.
(To the left of the woodpile in this photo is the top of our driveway. 650+ feet down the hill is the street. This is on the north side of our property.)
We are very lucky because our water pipes are still good and haven’t burst. We learned the hard way on that the first winter we were here, with the pipes bursting under the utility room bathroom. We had to have the floor dug up, the pipes repaired, etc. Expensive, well-remembered event.
Now we run a steady stream of water in that bathroom sink. We keep the cabinet doors open and have an electric heater that turns itself on if the temperature goes to a certain level. We have two other bathroom sinks in the house that are in jeopardy and do the cabinet doors and running water thing there, too. Our water bill will be astronomical, but much less expensive than burst pipes.
We have an electric heater in the well house that turns itself on, as well. We noticed a lower water pressure this morning. Usually, I wash my hair in the kitchen sink, with our tankless water heater making the water hot toward the end of my wash. Apparently the water pressure was low enough the tankless wasn’t sensing properly. Anyway, I had a really eye-opening hair wash this morning before the water finally started warming up.
I’m very thankful that we have intact water pipes, running water in the house if we want it. We’re warm and dry. I can complain as I refill the bird feeders on the deck, then come back in to the warm and cozy. Since we’re snowed in until further notice, we’re as well off as anyone could be.
I checked on significant people in my life this morning and all are well. Life is good (but I still have the petition here to sign if you want the rest of the winter scrapped and to move right on to spring.)
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