Tag Archives: Weather

The Snow Followed Us!

23 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Did you see the crazy pictures of the snow in the Gulf coast and Florida?

I wanted to upload some, but couldn’t find any that were free to share and use. The Pensacola News Journal has some good photos. I enjoyed seeing pictures on Facebook of people making snowballs and measuring how many inches. It was a historical snow event and will be remembered and talked about for many years.

We left our mountain home on January 16th to spend time in Florida with our daughter. We enjoyed our snow days but after 5 days in the house I was getting (crazy) restless. By day three my husband decided it was time to shovel the driveway. I stayed inside because someone had to be standing by to call 911.

I was worried about his safety since there was ice under the snow and as I have mentioned I don’t do ice. But Mike seemed to enjoy the shoveling.

We share a driveway with a neighbor and their teenage son shoveled the stretch from their driveway to the road.

The local Facebook page was very helpful with road updates The main road was cleared quickly but there was still morning ice. When our neighbor ventured out we waited a day and set out to check the road conditions for our route back to Florida. There was still some ice but it was easy to avoid. We ran a couple of errands and it was so good to interact with people!

Two days later we left for home. It was time. Another winter storm was expected on the weekend. We enjoyed the snow, but once was enough.

Neighbor’s table
Main road from our neighborhood

I was sad and happy to leave. Florida was calling and after days in the house I was ready for some sunny vitamin D. But the Vitamin D will have to wait as the weather has been cloudy, windy and cold. We are further south than the snow line and I am good with that.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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The Snow Arrived

11 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

The snow arrived a little earlier than expected yesterday.

I was sitting on my bed with the window blinds open, ready for the show to begin. According the my weather app it would arrive at 12 noon. At 11:00 am my husband came into the room and announced it is snowing. I looked out my window and the roof of my husband’s shop was beginning to turn white. How did that happen so fast? The snow was very fine and I wasn’t sure it was snow but since it was sticking on the shop, I made the decision it was snow. I am bummed I didn’t take a photo.

I had no idea how much snow we might get so I did snap a picture of our walkway.

The driveway is black asphalt.

The snow set in with short intervals of no snow. For the most part the snow was very fine but we didn’t have a few moments of the beautiful large flakes.

Back yard

Our driveway has a slope and I don’t see us driving down it until the snow melts. We wanted to walk around outside but decided to attempt to be responsible old people. We have a package being delivered to our mailbox on Monday. We are plotting a route to walk down to the mailbox. It’s hard being responsible old people.

An update on the people in the disaster area of the Blue Ridge mountains.

FEMA announced today, Saturday January 11, that they are extending hotel vouchers until January 14th. They put out a message to call them if one has a problem. The message didn’t mention that their office has closed down due to the storm. Please remember the people in our prayers and the volunteers who are exhausted.

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Will the Snow Arrive?

9 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Eillis

As I write this, western North Carolina is hunkering down for a big winter storm. Hunker down is a Florida phrase in hurricane season. I’m not sure what the proper term is here so until I know better, I’m hunkering down.

HUNKER DOWN!

Photo is AI generated

In Florida my hunker down prep was all about food. I started with the most basic, coffee. Must have coffee. At the start of hurricane season we made sure we had propane for our Coleman camp stove so making coffee would be no problem. Hurricane stress requires snacks. Lots of snacks. Highly processed lunch meats and hot dogs are awful, but they don’t spoil easily. Of course, plenty of Peanut butter and bread are a must along with bottles of water. Oh, and must not forget ice for keeping foods chilled in the ice chest.

Photo is AI generated

Hunkering down for a snow storm is different. Our biggest concern is water. Our water is supplied by a community well and that pump does not like cold weather. Usually there is a switch that needs to be flipped back on but last year it froze. Some of the men used hair blow dryers to thaw it.

We’ve filled empty gallon water jugs with water for dish washing and er…other things. In the kitchen I filled up pitchers with water because coffee must be available!

Photo is AI generated

I don’t need to worry about food spoilage. The garage is colder than the refrigerator. I didn’t stock up on snacks since we are trying to eat very low carb. I may come to seriously regret this decision.

I’ve loaded my iPad and my Kindle with books to read should the power go out. I have also charged up my battery power bank. Unlike during a hurricane power outages with miserable heat, I can snuggle under blankets and read.

Even if we don’t lose power, I should have a lot of reading time. The weather predicts that after the snow, there may be ice and that will prolong thawing and as I said, this Florida girl does not drive on ice.

11:00 pm- My phone just buzzed with this warning.

CODE RED WEATHER WARNING.

The warning sounds ominous. So far the skies are mostly clear. The warning goes from 7:00 am tomorrow the 10th to 7:00 am on the 11th.

I really want the snow to arrive. We extended our stay in the mountains in the hope of snow. We didn’t exactly ask for a strong winter storm mixed with ice.

On the other hand, I don’t want the snow to arrive. The people living east of us in the area devastated by Hurricane Helene don’t need this storm. There are still people living in tents. There are people who have no place to sleep being housed in hotels paid for by FEMA. Today FEMA announced they were discontinuing paying for the hotel rooms after previously saying they were extending the vouchers. A huge outcry went up. Volunteers were frantically trying to find funding to keep the people safe. Mercury 1 Charity stepped in to pay for the rooms. By late evening FEMA relented to give the people another 24 hours.

In our 14 years of spending time in the mountains, we have only experienced one big snow storm. Snow makes everything beautiful. And if the storm does arrive, we will be enjoying the beauty for several days because like I said, this Florida girl (and her husband) don’t drive on ice.

This was in 2014.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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Hurricane Helene and Milton: Personal Reflections

22 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Hurricane Helene skimmed the west coast of Florida before making landfall in the big bend area on September 26th. We were thankful that our family on Florida’s West coast didn’t experience any severe winds.

From our home in Western North Carolina we followed the progress of Helene as the storm made its way to inland Georgia. Here in the mountains rainfall totals from a cold front moving through were already at 10 inches, with more to come with Helene.

At some point after we went to bed, in the early morning hours I began receiving flash flood warnings on my phone. We don’t live near water, so I wasn’t concerned for us, but I was for the community. Our town is in a valley with lots of streams.

As we slept, Helene moved to a more eastward track. We woke up to light rain and mild wind gusts. Shortly after arising, our electricity went out. We have underground power so a tree or trees near a feeder line must have come down.

This is all of the yard debris

We were two days without power and three days without phones or internet. Fortunately, a friend in South Carolina didn’t lose any services and suggested we come stay with them. We emptied our freezers into ice chests, gathered up some clothes, loaded the car and with hearts full of gratitude drove to their home.

Once we drove south, we began to have intermittent cell service and I was able to let family and friends know that we were ok.

I checked social media and was horrified to find out about the devastation to the mountains east of us. To this day I am horrified at the death and destruction.

As I write this, I am watching 60 Minutes TV show. It doesn’t even come close to showing the horror. Prayers are appreciated. Donations to organizations like Samaritan’s Purse are still needed. A major need is propane heaters as it is now cold in the mountains and some are living in tents.

Following on the heels of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton flared up in the Caribbean. There was quite a lot of fear about this storm as it rapidly developed into a category 5 hurricane and began a track to Florida’s West coast.

We have family on the West coast and a daughter on the East coast and the track was predicted to move onto land where the West coast family lives and exit on the East coast over where our daughter lives.

Our daughter would be going through the storm on her own, just herself and her dog, Ollie.

Our daughter did her storm preps and prepared to hunker down. I asked if she had hurricane snack foods and she didn’t have any! She worked up until the day of the storm and didn’t have the energy to fight the pre-storm crowds. Well that would not do!

I was able to place a Walmart delivery order that would arrive around 8:30 pm.

I know, a lot of cookies but I wasn’t sure which ones would be available.

Hurricanes tend to spin up tornadoes. As Milton moved through the state, several large, damaging tornadoes touched down south of our daughter’s county. She had prepared for this by creating a “safe place” in her bathroom. She had books, blankets, pillows, candles and even treats for Ollie.

I barely slept the night Milton was crossing Florida. Would she lose power, are there tornadoes near her, what about her car, did anything hit it? I slept better during Helene.

When she called the next morning to say she was fine and had power, I sent up a thank you, God prayer.

The storm wasn’t finished but it would be moving out to sea soon. I was exhausted. Hurricane fatigue is real. Ask anyone who lived in Florida during 2004.

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The Big Warm up

3 Feb

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Last week here in Florida we were preparing for the “big freeze.” The freeze was freezing! We covered our fragile plants and all but one survived with no damage. We neglected to cover a pot of purple Coleus and it is not looking well. My daughter thinks the roots may be ok and that trimming it back may salvage it. On a positive note, the Crotons did just fine.

Photo Credit: Me!

As i write this on Wednesday night, the air conditioner is running. Thursday and Friday we will have temperatures in the 80s again. Hopefully our northern visitors (Anyone visiting from north of the Florida state line) will be quick to take advantage of the warmth because in true Florida fashion, the temperature will plunge again, though not as far as last week.

Lots of talk and memes for Ground Hog day. Local weather stations have posted some fun memes. I like this one from our Orlando WFTV station.

Photo Credit https://www.wftv.com/weather/

Not to be outdone, a Jacksonville news station went for the beach look.

Photo Credit: https://www.news4jax.com/weather/

I have seen a lot of people posting about snow in Michigan. I went online and found this one. I would never willingly play the game. This Florida raised woman is a total chicken when it comes to snow and ice.

A novel I read this week stated that when well-bred English people don’t know what to say, they talk about the weather. In my not so well-bred American case, when this blogger doesn’t know what to write about, she talks about the weather.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2021 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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Social Media and Prayer

1 Jun

Yesterday I watched in horror the television coverage of the Oklahoma tornados. “Oh dear God” my heart cried out, pleading for His mercy. I even summoned up the courage to tweet a short prayer before moving to Facebook to see if any of my friends were in the path. As I scrolled through the newsfeed, I began to come across prayers for protection, not the usual “praying for the people in the storm” but powerful prayers of “standing in the gap” and claiming safety. At each one I would join in the prayer and write “agree” or “agree with this prayer” in the comment line. I felt my spirit join with those praying.

As the storm began to break up it hit me that social media is a powerful instrument for prayer. I will continue to say and post “praying for…” because I do pray for each person or situation when I write that but I will also venture out of my comfort zone and tweet or post on Facebook prayers of petition because to not do so deprives not just myself, but other believers the wondrous opportunity to join together in prayer.

Matthew 18:20

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