Icepocalypse Spared Us
Winter Storm Ruth
It’s comin’, y’all, the once-a-decade real winter down south. I know y’all make fun of us down here when we have winter weather, but y’all get snow; we get sleet and ice. A quarter of an inch of ice brings down tree limbs. An inch of ice brings down seven-hundred-year-old oaks. The last one I was in was the one that took the Eisenhower Pine from The Augusta National, a few hundred yards behind my house. It sounded like a war zone all night, trees falling, wind uprooting others, fallen branches becoming icy missles. It was godawful. Two days later, we had an earthquake. A week later, our power was back on. In short, don’t tell me three inches of sleet followed by an inch of ice is no big deal when it’s crippling with repercussions that last long after the storm has passed and the ice has melted. That’s what’s headed my way tomorrow night and all day Sunday into Monday. I imagine I’ll be without power and internet until Wednesday or so. Keep my family and me in your prayers if you’re a praying person. Perform a ritual for our protection if you’re not. I’ll be here tomorrow and tonight, but I’m pretty sure I go dark sometime Saturday night. Harper wasn’t made for winter. I don’t even like wearing shoes.
My shelter is ready; we did not have to enter. Safe and sound. Thank you all!
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.
I’m known as Dena Brown to the revenuers and pollsters.
MA English literature, College of Charleston
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Comments (8)
Harper: 100% relate from north Louisiana...not happy one little bit.
Ice is a whole different beast than snow, and people who haven’t lived it just don’t get it. Hoping it passes with less damage this time, stay safe.
The image of ice turning branches into “icy missiles” took me right back to that war-zone feeling you describe, where the noise alone keeps you on edge all night. I think people who’ve never dealt with ice don’t get how different it is from snow — it’s not pretty, it’s heavy and mean and it lingers in ways that mess with your nerves long after it melts. The way you casually mention losing power for days like it’s just part of the deal says a lot about the kind of resilience you’ve had to build. When you’re nesting through storms like this, what’s the one small comfort you always make sure you have ready before the lights go out?
Ooof, stay safe out there! There’s been this weird layer of ice on my car a couple of mornings, but mostly we’ve been lucky enough to just get snow.
Those are the worst! We just had the craziest snow storms in Europe in a decade or more. That was far more than enough for me, I wouldn't want an ice storm. I'm pretty glad that when we came back from Hungary (-7 celcius, and snow) to France (12Celsius and dry) the snow didn't follow us.
I hope you stay safe. Ice storms sound terrible. Sometimes we get freezing rainstorms. They are so much worse than snowstorms. I'm quite sure that's what inspired the term "hell frozen over." But I don't think ours are anything like what you are anticipating. I'm a praying person, so I'll mention your plight to God tonight. You should leave one of your faucets running just a tiny bit to keep the water moving in your pipes so they don't freeze solid and burst. Best of luck to you!
Ice storms are the worst. We're supposed to get around a foot of snow here in Maryland. My parents were from North Carolina. They were raised in an orphanage in Thomasville.
BURR. AHHHH