When the weather sends you an ice storm….make POPSICLES!!!
In the last week, our town and surrounding area has been hit by a MAJOR ice storm! We were very lucky for many reasons but probably the most significant is that our wonderful neighbor allowed us to hook our heat up to his generator. We were able to stay warm and with the entire house warm, we were able to provide warmth for several other family members without power.
Even though we were out of electricity for almost an entire week we still enjoyed many “popsicles” as a result of the ice storm! Don’t get me wrong, it was very stressful cooking for 8 plus people each meal, making sure the grannies got hot showers and hot coffee (with the right amount of cream and sugar,) and everyone had a comfy place to sleep. But I have chosen a few of my favorite “popsicle flavors” that I was able to experience despite the disaster and state of emergency.
Cherry – The heat from the generator that warmed our home
Orange – Roasted marshmallows, baked apples with caramel, brown sugar and oatmeal, and pineapple up-side-down cake made on hot coals
Grape – Candle-lit hot, steamy, quiet showers
Lime – 4 generations of Murphys together in one house taking care of each other
Lemon – The wonderful taste of whole milk that has been chilled on the front porch in 28 degrees weather, WAY colder than the frig could ever get it
Blue-Raspberry – 2 of my children’s Great-grandmothers in the same house to talk with them and play with them all they wanted
Strawberry – The joy of using my Grandad Harness’s 150 year old oil lamp to light up my house in 2010
Pineapple – 2 little Hawaiian boys with excitement in their eyes about cooking over a fire, lighting candles, playing card games and sleeping on a blow-up mattress in their toy room
Lemon – Long candle-lit talks with my sweet husband as we got into bed to rest for the night, ready for the sun to come and shine some light through the windows
Without our family and neighbors we would all have been cold, hungry and lonely. Thanks to God’s many blessing we able to enjoy many flavors of popsicles instead of just freezing in the midst of an ice storm! I will treasures these memories forever.
I hope that while the ice storm was devastating, stressful and exhausting, you discovered a few popsicle flavors to enjoy along the way!
