We have been stuck in the ice age here in Ky. For 11 days we had no power. Many Ky. residents still do not and will not have power for a couple more weeks.

The first 3 days, there was no power county wide. This did not pose a problem at first. Because the first day, when you dont know how bad it is, its not so bad. We had kerosene heaters so we went to town when we lost power about 7:30 or so Tuesday morning. We took our jugs and got 20 gallons of kerosene. An hour or so later, I learned that the power was now gone all over the county. There was nothing open. No Gas stations, no stores, no nothing. My husband had been called to work at 3 a.m. at the nursing home where he is maintence supervisor. I tried to call him to see what was going on and how long this would last. No phone service. Tried the cell phone...its gone to. We tried to get some news on the battery radio. Our radio station was out also. Just before the batteries died I managed to get a station about 60 miles away. I heard there would be no kerosene for the heaters and no fuel for the cars. They were saying just stay in your homes. There are power lines down on the roadways. I woke my son up and told him we had to get to some kerosene. We got in his 4 wheel drive and drove over to the next county hoping they had not been hit that hard. They had not. We bought another 30 gallons of kerosene. We had to drive about 60 miles on one lane because of trees in the road. None the less we got there and back without incident. So we fired up the heaters and then I became worried about my daughter and her family. My son said he will go see about them. He tried and could not get to thier road for the broken poles and trees. So we decided thier is nothing to do but wait. And wait we did for three days. Still no stores open. The 3rd day my son and hubby finally got to my daughter. They were all fine. No power but they had a heater too and was cooking on a coleman camp stove. I later learned that they went where we went and got kerosene. We just missed them by a few minutes. They went out the back way and were able to get out thier road that way. Hubby just stayed at work. They had residents in the dining room on cots to keep them warm. It was cold outside so we dragged the freezer outside, shook ice off the trees and dropped it in the freezer on the food. I was thinking any time that the Red Cross or someone would show up with generators, fuel or something. They did after 3 days. The first thing that opened was the bulk plant that supplies all the gas stations with fuel. The National Guard brought a generator to the bulk plant and hooked it up so that they could pump fuel and kerosene. That helped! One of our stores opened up. They had no power but went in with flashlights and got heaters and what few generators they had. Of course you can imagine how many people were still standing in line waiting for one. They promised to get more the next day, which they did. The roads were so hazordous that you could not go get one somewhere else and trucks could not get to us. A little at a time after the first week it began to warm up. Trouble for the freezer sitting outside full of beef. But by the time we knew we had to do something different, the nursing home where hubby works had thier power back. So we loaded the freezer in the truck and took it to hubbys work place and put it in his shop.  We bought a camper trailor last fall and had not used it yet. But you have to have propane or electric to operate and we had neither. We finally did get our hand s on some propane after several days and were able to cook in the camper. Then a very gracious person loaned us a generator. We had news on the T.V. We were estatic! We couldnt run anything else but we had news at last. We learned that what was predicted to be 3 in. of snow covered the western half of the state with an in. of ice and now we were going to get 3 in. of snow! Cell towers finally came up the 6th day. I got electric yesterday. Now there are  trucks all over town set up selling generators! Go figure! You could not even find a battery in this town.

If I sound like I am bashing the Red Cross and our county goverment, I am. I know it takes time to get things done but should it take 3 days when you have residents in a nursing home with no heat. My husband did not stay home and wait either. He went to work and called some people who came and assisted him in running gas lines into the halls, hung gas heaters and warmed everyone up till the power was restored.

Our electric Co-Op has done a wonderful job. They have been under tremendous pressure and working round the clock in very cold weather. They started calling for help almost immediately. We now have 13 different power companies here assisting from several different states. Last count I heard, we had 1400 utility poles down in our county alone. When it warmed up and the ground started to grip thier trucks in mudd, they had bull dozers pulling thier trucks from one utility pole to the next.

There is a reason I am sharing this with you. I have lived in this county for 40 years and never been without power more than a few hours. But folks, it happens. There are some things you cannot help....like the phones not reaching your family. But you can be prepared! We we not. But we were resourceful enough to get by.(Untill we got popane we cooked on the kerosene heater and the grill.)

Lessons I have learned from this: Always keep some batteries; If the power goes out, go run some water in buckets, jugs,ect.; ( I forgot to mention that with no power to pump our water from the pumping station, we had no water)If you do not have a generator, BUY ONE...it will at least help you stay informed about what is going on; I already had heaters...If you do not, GO BUy ONE; unless it is unsafe...check on your elderly neighbors. If they cant get out and they have no power, they can die quickly; NEVER<NEVER run a generator indoors. I know that sounds like common sense but there have been several fatalities from this; I always have canned food but a lot of people dont. You should always have enough food on hand for at least 3 days minimum;  If you have a camper, keep propane in it; If you have a coleman camp stove, keep cylinders on hand; Make sure you have a working flash light;

I may never go through this again and I pray I dont. But I now have everything I need if I do. You have to think of safety first. Then get a plan and take care of yourself. It will probably be 3 or more days before you can depend on help from anyone else.

I want to ask that everyone who reads this, please take this seriously. We have had several deaths. Some from carlessness and some from people who were not able to help themselves. You need to be prepared! If you have a generator sitting in your garage and you never need it, it is better than to need it and have a nice tidy, empty garage!

Also, there are still several people in our county without power. And there are a lot of people in the extreme Western part of Ky. without power. Please say a little prayer for thier safety and all the crews out there working to help them. Thanks.

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We have a beautiful moon tonight. It is a balmy 48 degrees. The outside world is dark and still.

I love the night time. I think this comes from my husband working second shift for many years. He had to drive 50 miles one way from our town. As a result he was gone from 2:p.m. untill 1:oo the next morning. I used to put the baby to bed about 8:30 and then I would sit outside, sometimes till midnight. There is something so calming about the night....all the hustle and bustle of the day has stopped. Where I live, all you hear is the slight hum of traffic. I would look at the stars and just marvel at our universe.

I now get up at 6:oo a. m. but I still prefer the p.m. hours. I went out tonight and looked at the beautiful moon and again I am reminded that our God is an awesome God.

I put a few night pics in my gallery if you would care to see. I hope this beautiful moon is shining on you, whereever you are.  nitro

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I went to visit my brother who is sick on Sunday after Christmas. He is no better. He has lost some of his breathing capability. But still his chipper self!

He had a shirt on that made me do a lot of thinking. It says.."He who does cannot explain...He who doesnt cannot understand".

This inspired me to write this.

I know a lady who gets out of bed every day with a smile on her face.

She takes time to call and ask me if I am O.K.,never complaining about her health or problems.

She invites me over for a cup of coffee, hot biscuits and fried apples. What a treat!

She always inquires if everyone is O.K.

She lives alone and seldom asks for help.

This wonderful lady is my Mother. She is 83 years old.

If you ask her why she does this, she would just smile and say....Oh I cant explain it, it just makes me feel like I am doing something good.

She cannnot explain how she knows if something is wrong. She cannot explain how she knows something is going to happen....She just knows.

If you do not have this kind of love, then you cannot understand it.

I was a bit of a rebel in my younger days. I did not understand and everything was just a punishment as far as I was concerned.

Not every one has someone so wonderful to guide them. She saw something in me (even when I was not good) that she thought was worth her time and effort and for that I will always be grateful.

When you see someone who doesnt "do", help them to understand.  nitro

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I was sent this link in an e-mail. I thought some of you would enjoy it.

It touched me for several different reasons.

Our country is a mess. We have become the laughing stock of our foreign neighbors. Our children are killing each other. Our churches are breaking apart. Our government is falling apart. People are losing thier homes. The are no morals and values anymore. There are no standards by which we teach our children to respect themselves and one another. The United States Flag has been taken out of public places.

In the midst of all this remains one constant....God. These images show the awesomeness of our creator. And I believe that he is not happy with his people. When we left God out, things came apart. Doesnt this say anything? One womans opinion...nitro

http://www.greatdanepro.com/Blue%20Bueaty/index.htm

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I write this in honor of my father on "Americas Birthday".

My father served in WW11. He did not have to...he just did. He was in the "Death March" and a POW for 16 months. He lived through horrific times and came close to death more than once. He was proud to be an American. That pride in America and the spirit with which he defended her brought him back home to his country. Home to live as he chose "In Freedom".

Today is a celebration. There will be fireworks, food, ice cream, friends and parties. And there should be. But wherever you are today, please take a moment to honor our heroes and pray for those still defending our freedom. Without these people who love thier country enough to protect it, we may all live in prison.

God bless all who are serving and thier families AND

God Bless America!

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I thought someone may be interested in this info. You know that a Memorial was built in Washington,D.C. to honor our WW11 vets 65 years after they came home. A way late for a lot of them, my Dad included. However there are a lot of living WW11 vets that have not had the opportunity to see this yet. There is an organization called "Honor Flight" that is taking the vets out there for free. They are flying out of different ports in different states. The only cost to the vet is to get to the airport. Hardees and some other restaurants feed everyone for free. Also you can volunteer to go on the flight as a guardian to help with the vets needs...example-wheelchairs ect. Guardians do have to pay thier way (about $250.00...more or less) They must be in good enough health to help the vet they are assigned to and it is my understanding that they must have a WW11 vet in the family.

Go online to honorflight.com, download the application for vet or guardian. Fill it out and mail it to the address on the application. I know that there have been a lot from my area that could not have made the trip on thier own, financally.

Last, but not least, tomorrow is Memorial Day. A Day set aside to recognize and honor all men and women, living and dead who furnished our freedom. We owe them a debt that we can never repay. Please consider donating a few dollars to this orginazation. For it is with our money that these vetrans are allowed to see the Memorial that they waited 65 years for. God Bless you all and Thank You veterans.

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Can you remember ....when 30 was old,

coca-cola was 25 cents,

gas was 74 cents,

you could not wait to reach 21,

one month seemed like a year,

Soda fountains at the drug stores,

rotary phones,

push mowers without motors,

kerosene lamps,

black and television,

We sure have come a long way.

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     I was raised on a farm with two brothers and one sister. We led a simple life with simple pleasures.

We had a farm pond where we swam, caught tadpoles, and fished. On the back side of the pond was a spillway where we could dig turtles up out of the mud. Didnt do anything with them, just liked finding them.

We caught lightening bugs and put them in jars to take to our bedrooms, flew kites and rode stick horses. 

We played in the rain and ran through mud puddles. I could not wait for the creek to get up so we could sail corn cob boats on it.

We grew up not knowing what 4-wheelers, jet skiis, and playstation were.

 We had chores and a mother who always knew who our friends were and where we were.

I know that we live in a different world now.But let not forget the simple things.

  Were we deprived? No way! We were so blessed!Teach your children a few simple pleasures. They will become better adults for it.  nitro

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Mothers are very special people. We never quit being mothers. My children are all grown but from time to time, I still have to kiss away thier hurts. It was easier when they were little. Thier pains then came from scraped knees, bruised elbows and occasionly a broken bone. Now thier hurt comes from seeing thier own children in pain, troubled marriages, lost jobs, financial trouble...you name it. And if yours are like mine, they still turn to Mom. It gets so frustrating at times. They can still demand a lot of your time....just like when they were little. But even when you get frustrated at them just try to remember what your life was like before you had them. Bet you cant.

My mom is 83 years old and I am so blessed to have her still. But like the children, she can be frustrating to. I love her with all my heart and dont want to think of being without her.

So take today to tell all the mothers in your life, whether it be a daughter thats a mom now or your own mother, how special they are and thank them for all that they do. Then thank God for sending them to you.    nitro 

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