Melissa Weisbard Photography: February 2009

To all of my loyal readers (all four or five of you), I apologize for taking so long to put out a new post. As you may have heard (unless you've been living in a media blackout), Louisville had a major ice storm last week. It started on Tuesday with snow and then Tuesday afternoon it changed to freezing rain. The freezing rain continued all afternoon and all night. Early Wednesday morning I awoke to the sound of breaking trees. I looked out my window and mistakenly thought I saw flashes of lightening. What I was actually seeing was flashes of light from exploding transformers. My sister lost her electricity Tuesday evening so she packed up her family and went to my father's house (who lives on my street). We felt pretty fortunate that we still had electricity.

Our good fortune ran out at 10:45 pm on Thursday evening. There was a large flash that lit up the entire sky (exploding transformer) and our electricity was gone. The house was pretty warm, so I just added an extra down comforter to our bed and we were fine. My sister and her husband packed up the kids at 11pm that night and went to her husband's uncle's house. The next morning my husband and I purchased a generator so we could power our refrigerator, a space heater, and a light. We didn't want a repeat performance of the wind storm we experienced in September where we lost all of the food in our refrigerator. Friday evening was really cold with single-digit temperatures. I was warm in my bed, but when I got up Saturday morning I was freezing! Even with the space heater running and wrapped in a down comforter, I was still cold. Any area that was exposed to the air was cold. Fortunately, it warmed up on Saturday afternoon. Our electricity was restored on Saturday sometime between 4 and 6pm.

The electric company said it could be 7 to 10 days before everyone's electricity is restored. We must try and keep those people without electricity or heat in our thoughts and prayers. Many people in Kentucky and Arkansas are still struggling because of the ice storm.

I do want to send my thanks to all of the electric company employees who worked day and night in the freezing rain, snow, and freezing temperatures to restore the city's electricity. I think that people often forget how dangerous and difficult their job can be. So, Thanks for all of your hard work. My family and I appreciate your efforts.

Even though the storm was difficult for many, there were a couple of positive outcomes. First, I got to spend more time with my family. My sister, her husband, and her two children, my parents, and my husband and I had dinner together on Wednesday and Thursday evening. It was nice spending time together. I'm sure there were many families huddling together in a relative's home that still had power and heat. Another positive aspect was the extreme beauty of the storm. Just seeing the sun glinting off the ice-covered trees was a sight to behold. I took lots of photos, but I don't think my photos can really do the sight justice.

The experience of the storm has taught me that no matter what is happening, God is always watching over us. He is there in good times and bad. This storm has also taught me that even during difficult times, there can be positive experiences.

Below you will see a few photos of the downed trees on my street. However, I don't think my street really does the storm justice. I don't think a single tree in the Louisville area escaped damage. Every where you go, you see broken branches and trees laying on homes and vehicles. It is going to take weeks upon weeks to cleanup the mess.

Below you will also see a few photos of the ice. I just hope the photos can convey a little bit of the beauty of the storm.