Loose Leaf Notes

Joe drove me down Bent Mountain yesterday for a medical procedure in Roanoke that was already rescheduled once and it would be months to get another one.

It’s a good thing he brought his chainsaw!

The main roads were plowed but the ice weighed down trees, and when the temperature rose and the ice started to melt it pelted down like bombs and took trees down.

We were only 20 minutes late for waiting for an hour in the waiting room.

I keep thinking of my late brother Jimmy, who was an amateur weatherman, a photographer and videographer of storms,  and wishing he could see these shots.

The ice storm came after 4 inches of snow and froze over the snow, making everyone’s yard a skating rink.

Ice storms are common in Southwest Virginia where it’s often not quite cold enough for snow but just right for freezing rain. The snow was a lovely little wonderland compared to the ice that covered everything and took down tree limbs.

Back home, traveling on Woods Gap we were stopped in our tracks, had to turn around and take Route 8.

At home, we still had no power. We got the woodstove fired up and started the generator, but it was too late to save the ice cream, which had melted into soup.

The birds were happy to see us.