ICEBOUND!!

meower mom sez:

ice. oh, yeah. whatever you've seen on the weather channel about southwest missouri in the ice storm is probably true--and the reality is probably even worse. i'm writing this from tom's store on the southwest edge of springfield. up on the northwest side, we went off the power grid about 8:50 last night, and we're not back yet. our kid's on the east side, also with out power, nor does his girlfriend house, so we expect them over at our place later, where at least it's warm. i guess we can play UNO by lamplight. the inlaws are o.k. my workplace is without power; we drove by and the lines to the building were sagging within an inch of the ground. but not that it matters--there were NO buildings with power between our home and my work.

except for fact that buildings are still standing, you would think this was a war zone. torn trees everywhere. there were 3 places east of us on our street with trees or big limbs in the street. and 2 places to the west. people were out with chainsaws by 7:30 this morning.

our morning paper (delivery of which is a testament to a driver who evidently took the postal letter carrier's oath) said that 50,000 were without power, but by the look of the tour we made to get here, i'd have to believe that was FAR below the reality.

anyway, even if we're without power for a couple of days, we won't starve. got lots of peanut butter and crackers;-) and thanks g*d, a wood stove, oil lamps, and candles! this is an inconvenience for us, but disaster for so many who did not (or could not) get out beforehand to buy supplies, and who depend on electricity for heat. our shelters are filling up. please pray for all those who are without--and especially for those who for whatever reason live outdoors, both 2-legged and 4-legged.

now that tom's had his coffee fix, we're going to get out of here and back home before much longer . . . the roads (once you've got past the downed trees and lines) are not even slick, just wet. but that will change, now that it's been in the 20s for a considerable amount of hours.

i will blog the whole story (with pictures, even!) when we are back on power, but since it is beginning to rain again (and it's only 28 degrees), and another inch of ice is forecast for today--and sleet, ice, and snow for tomorrow. lovely; simply lovely. great weather for polar bears.

hope y'all are having better weather than we are! see you online soon, i hope!! i think i'll sign off with those immortal words of Mr. Red Green:

keep yer stick on the ice! (not a problem here, red!)

we're still here!

nitro sez:

mom's been drefful busy at work lately, so we has been pretty scarce around these parts. let's do a quick catch-up:

xingxing's scabbies and fleasers are all gone, an' she's tapering off the medication. the boo-boo on her lip is almost gone, too! an' mom's found out that xing really LIKES being handled and brushed or combed. luna sent a brush in xing's secret paw package, and that's her favorite! but g*d forbid one of us boys should try to groom her--there'd be new scabs, and not on her!

ed is relentless in his pursuit of nip. mom caught him tryin' to jimmy open the cabinet door where she hides it. he was read the miranda, but it din't really worry him much. i caught him doin' it again after she left for work! right now, he's sittin' infront of the computer face, staring at xing where she's tryin' to be unobtrusive in the bookcase. mom can't see the screen at all.

nelson's doin' fine on his glucosamine supplement, an' mom thinks his spindly little bee-hine is maybe fillin' in a bit, since he's moving around a bit more. we guesses that's because it doesn't hurt quite so much. he's even gotten into the tinsel-wand play in the evening.

and speaking of the tinsel wand--xingxing has started to play with it! a lot. she has nefurr played with ANYTHING before! and she'll even jump after it if I am already playing with it!! maybe that means someday we'll be furriends. i sure wish so; i want to play all the time, and nokitty will oblige me. just that clunky dawg who smooshes me in her efforts to be friendly.

ofurrwise, there's not been much goin' on here--mom and dad works hard all day, and dad's puttin' in some extra hours to get ready for the yearly home show. his work is selling plumming. (we thought for a long time that he sold fruit, but now we know it means the tubes that the cool water we drink comes from!) mom sez she's a minion; we kinda thought that was the vegetubble we can't eat (funny how we relates efurrything to food;-) but she's really a helper who types and prints and phones stuff for a man named jeff. they make puters at her work, but she doesn't do that part.

efurry day, we are remembering all those kitties and dawgs and beans among us who needs help and healing--we purrs an' purrrays regular for them all. an' for all of us who don't SAY they needs help, too. an' for all of us who is doin' OK, even!! we loves our furriends, and hopes the furry best for each an' all.