We had a little excitement over the weekend about two weeks ago. We were hit by the first major snowstorm in Richmond in nine years. In what ultimately amounted to about 5 inches of snow and ice, the power outages and school closings were widespread.

We had just sat down to eat our homemade brocolli cheese soup on Sunday night, when the lights went out and the comforting hum of the furnace died. We live in a 100-year old farmhouse on about 30 acres of field and trees. We have a well for water that uses an electric pump and we heat with oil, which again requires electricity to work. To make a long story shorter, when the electricity goes out, all those wonderful modern-day comforts like running water, heat, and light, no longer exist!

Intensified by the darkness, the snowstorm was beautiful, enticing us to bundle up and wander in the drifts. On the walk back to the dark house, we were pelted by needles of ice rain, then shocked by the violent crack-cracking of our cedar tree, threatening to fall through our bedroom window. It was quite a tense (and shivery) evening. Needless to say, we slept in the back bedroom that night under no less than nine blankets.

The best part of the two-day power outage was being able to use our fireplace to keep the house warm. Normally, we don’t use it on ice cold nights, because it can be counter-productive with the backdraft sucking the warmth out of the rest of the house.

The worst part of the power outage was losing Sharkie, one of our tropical freshwater fish, who we adopted from our Scottish/Aussie friends before they moved back to Melbourne. Poor little Sharkie, may you Rest in Peace. It was 8 degrees outside, by the way, a record low for Richmond.

And I must admit that it did kind of suck that when the power was finally restored, our pipes had frozen and burst in the upstairs bedroom. A waterfall emerged, seeping through the ceiling onto the furniture downstairs. Luckily, my Sugar was savvy enough to suspect this may occur and he shut off the water before any real damage accumulated. I’m so lucky to have such a smart Sugar when it comes to matters of the home. Did I mention, he fixed the broken pipe, too?

The most ironic part of our ordeal was that only five days later, Richmond experienced an 80 degree heat wave! With all the thirst-quenching water from the melted snow, the daffodils bravely poked their heads out of the soil. And I bravely put on a pair of shorts for the first time this season.