Storms and Snow Prep, a blog post

We had a storm this weekend!

I think it’s possible that, even if you didn’t live in the region hit by Harper, you’ve heard of the storm that hit this weekend.

It was one of those “the snow just keeps coming” sorts, and then, when the snow had settled down, then came the wind.  Huge gusts.

We were lucky: we didn’t lose power, we didn’t need to leave the house.  We were warm and cozy, or at least tolerably warm (Depending on which end of the house we were at).

I hope all of you who were affected are safe and warm as well.

One of the professors was talking in the hallway this morning about “there are life stages of storm prep.  First: beer and cigarettes. Next, Beer, Cigarettes, and bread. Then you start worrying about milk and diapers and things.”

We hauled firewood and picked up pizza, which is sort of a middle stage there.  

On the other hand, we are the sort of people who have a month’s worth of food in the house at any time.  We might run out of milk, but we’re unlikely to be actually short on food.OUr storm prep is more:

Haul an extra load of firewood, so we don’t have to go out in the middle of the storm.

Charge all the devices, in case the power goes out (it didn’t).

…That’s was pretty much it.  

We chilled inside.  We made bread and rolls.  We started chicken soup (well, stock) on the wood stove. We wore an extra layer to bed.  It was nice, not really feeling any need to go anywhere and not needing to.

I did get a fun auto dial call from my home insurance company.  I didn’t listen to the whole thing, but the gist appeared to be “please be careful and don’t set your house on fire.”

Novenas!

Use flashlights instead of candles if your power goes out (we use both, tbh – $1 novena candles from the grocery store are pretty safe).  Don’t put your electric space heater too close to curtains (we don’t have curtains, just blinds, and the only space heater we use is in the bathroom whilst showering). I mean, honestly, we heat with wood, so we’re pretty on top of fire safety, but I thought it was a nice touch.

Actually, T. and I were talking about the storm names, too.  Like: I complained that naming storms makes them more full of themselves… ahem… makes them sound big and dangerous, and he posited that that was the *point* – people weren’t taking winter storms seriously enough, and so by naming them, they might get people to be more prepared (Beer AND cigarettes!).

I dunno.  Does being hit by Winter Storm Norman make you more or less worried about it?

3 thoughts on “Storms and Snow Prep, a blog post

  1. As far as I know, the naming of storms is a by-product of the more general idea of naming significant high- and low-pressure systems (alternating annually with giving one male names and the other female names), since storms almost invariably originate with a strong low-pressure system. And that has been going on for decades. But yeah, I imagine that giving those things names makes them more personal and gives them a perceived agency that might make people pay more attention to them.

    I don’t get the advice about candles, though. Are people really so removed from open flames (even of the candle variety) that candles pose a significant fire hazard these days? All I know is that the collected flashlights at Casa Gudy might last for a few hours, whereas we could light up the place for days just from our bag of tea lights, to say nothing of the countless candles for Christmas pyramids, or assorted decorative candles lying around the place…

    • Well, other than my cat lighting his fur on fire (He was fine; barely even noticed), people might be that far removed from it. We try not to collect candles TOO Much but… yeah. We can light up a room with novenas until bedtime and barely dent the candles.

      Christmas Pyramids?

      Ooh, googling provides:

      From 2012-2016, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 8,200 home structure fires that were started by candles per year. These fires caused an annual average of 80 deaths, 770 injuries and $264 million in direct property damage.

      https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Top-causes-of-fire/Candles

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