Living in Central Illinois will make anyone a weather skeptic. We often get all kinds of predictions and warnings that don’t come true. But every now and then, things actually happen like they are forecast, and then we sit back and marvel that someone actually predicted that it was coming.

Today’s ice storm was just one such time. The weather people were saying it was going to move in last night and by today things would be pretty scary. Sure enough, the freezing rain started late yesterday afternoon, and we scuttled home from the Monroe house so we could hibernate at the Bobwhite house. Fortunately I had actually gotten to the grocery store, so we had a trunk full of bags to carry in. Just in the time it took us to get home, things were already getting slippery. Isaac hurried toward the house, carrying his newly-purchased “Polar Pop” (soft drink from the gas station) in one hand and a gallon of milk in the other hand. As he scurried around the corner of the house, he lost his footing, and both his soft drink and the gallon of milk went flying. The milk survived, but the soft drink spilled all over. Isaac was so disappointed! (After the groceries were unloaded, Michael took Isaac back out to get another drink.)

We enjoyed a quiet evening last night, and got to bed early. By this morning the roads were slick and hazardous, and quite a few churches had canceled their services.

Interestingly, our church did not cancel their service, but Michael said that we would not be leaving the house anyway. Quite frankly, it’s a dangerous trek to even get TO a vehicle, which then leaves you with the task of getting INTO the vehicle, and then finally to the job of driving on the ice.

So this morning, while it was still dark outside, I collected the two children who had migrated to our bed and we went to the living room to sit in front of the fire and visit. Judah was very wiggly, but Amelia laid quietly wrapped in a blanket while I told her the story of how she got her name.

Then I poured a cup of coffee for me and made hot cocoa for my two morning companions.

After a little bit longer, I put a ham into the oven for lunch, and settled down for a nice quiet Sunday morning. What a strange feeling to not be hurrying around getting ready for church.

Lunch was a fun feast, with ham, mashed potatoes and green beans. And now we are enjoying a quiet afternoon. It’s still so icy outside… I don’t know if we’ll go anywhere today. Tomorrow we hoped to put in a full day at the Monroe house, but more ice is forecast tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll just have to see what happens.

What’s the weather like where you are?