I woke to a 6 am phone call noting campus was closed due to weather with plans to reopen tomorrow. I ate an early breakfast and then went back to sleep for a bit. My big experience of the day involved moving 5-7 cm (2-3 in) of ice pellets that fell overnight into the morning. There was another 5 cm (2 in) left stuck to the ground. While outside, the ice pellets turned back to rain. My parka weighed considerably more coming into the house than it did when I left -- it was a bit damp <smile>. Forecasters note that freezing rain may fall for an extended period from late afternoon until the morning, though more ice pellets may be involved followed by snow. Personally, I would rather it be snow and ice pellets, since those can be shoveled and create less damage to trees, power lines and power poles. A positive to this mixed precipitation storm is that there will be very little wind and for those of us with electric heat, the outside temperatures are close to freezing, so not bitterly cold.
Heavy equipment has been working on roads and parking lots in the downtown core since 6 AM and they will be continuing through the evening and night -- sanding, plowing and whatever else is needed. Emergency electric utility folks are on standby. In past storms, I've fond the darkness of a power outage disconcerting, since nothing can be seen clearly without some light. One can't see the trees and if there is a problem with any of them. It can be very isolating when no lights glow through windows in the neighbourhood and no cars are out on the roads or people on the sidewalks. It can make me feel very alone. Once I listened to the local FM station, which was set to pull in a program from the US since no one was at the station during that hurricane. I have a hand-crank radio that I can use to try to find news, but that night I found summery beach music. The storm had created a lot of tension in my shoulders and legs, so it felt great to just dance to the music -- in the dark with no one watching <grin>. Thinking of that brought lyric line to mind and that brought a smile to my face. I love the melody and the chorus lines. I'll share that with you tonight and hope that it can help you relax from any stresses encountered today. Keep safe. Enjoy!
Perfect -- Ed Sheeran
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