Tag Archive

Early last week temperatures were in the 90’s. By late Thursday evening we were in the 30’s and had received 2 inches of rain. We awoke Friday morning to sleet covered windows and a deck that was a treacherous sheet of ice. A good indication of what the black top roads might be like. Dan’s brother Scott was visiting, for their annual grouse hunt. Instead of hunting the two of them set out getting needed machinery in place, should we become snowed in. By noon the sleet had turned to snow and whirled in complete whiteness, with the help of the intolerable prairie winds. We lost power shortly thereafter. Although we often wish to be snuggled up at home, unplugged from the world, we acted like rats in a cage, moving from windowed wall to windowed wall, looking for a possible way out. No power, meant no heat, so we gathered in the main room of the house, which consists of the the kitchen/dinning/living area. We kept comfortable with the help of the gas top range and finally settled in with books. The wind howled through every crack in the house.  At night we trolled around in the candle lit house and took our meals around the stovetop. The next day’s white morning brightness filled the kitchen with enough light to show that housekeeping was in order. Although we had quickly become familiar with faucets not working and toilets not flushing, we had not yet started hauling water. That changed quickly and by afternoon I had things cleaned up and an organized water hauling system in place: fill water buckets from the spring fed horse tank spigot, for drinking and cooking, dip water buckets in the horse tank for cleanup, sponge bathing and toilet. Out of habit, we continued to turn on light switches without effect. Late Saturday afternoon when the snow and wind finally ceased, we stepped outside and viewed the immediate damage. We were seriously snowed in and broken trees lay scattered everywhere. In the distance we could see part of the buffalo herd on the bottom ground that had escaped the storms cruelty, but we needed to get up on top to check on the buffalo that we couldn’t see and to assess fence damage. Dan & Scott got busy putting chains on the skid steer to get tree’s removed to start the dig out. As an avid walk/jogger, I was ready to put some miles on, so volunteered to walk out and get a first report to bring info back to Dan. After a mile or so I could see where the buffalo went through, and as I moved closer to see what materials would be needed for fence repair, I saw black blotches in the snowdrifts. I was loosing light, so started back, before it got dark. Dan was still in the skid steer moving heavy wet snow. The tiny machine looked like a Tonka Truck in comparison to the mountain of white he faced.  I reported the news, and received a “NO, NO!” in reply. It was time to stop for the day – but Dan insisted on working into the night. I returned to my night water hauling chores, and the preparation of a light supper. We ate our Pheasant & Vegetable soup in almost darkness that night, and sipped Buffalo Trace bourbon neat, from our newly assigned cups. Dan and Scott were back at it before first light the next day. After morning water chores were complete, I headed out to continue assessing animal and fence damage. On my way up the hill …