Cross-Country Skiing with a Pole and a Prayer

How did you all fare during the recent snow and ice storms? Here in western NC, I don’t think any of us was prepared for what we got. I know other parts of the country were hit far worse, so what we’ve had to endure is nothing compared to those places. We keep them in our prayers.

Today, I’m sharing a funny, not-so-funny story about our situation with you.

Years ago, when we first moved to our current home, purchased in 2017, moved full-time from the Tampa area in 2019, we went through a winter with a lot of snow. We lost power a time or two during summer and winter weather.

Thus, we made the decision to purchase a whole-house generator. It sits beneath our rear deck hidden from the golf course behind us. There’s plenty of room for air to circulate around it. Our deck is at least 25 to 30 feet off the ground, maybe a bit more than that. There are no stairs to the backyard of our home because the area is too steep to handle them.

In warmer months this isn’t too big a deal. With this ice storm we were presented with a problem we’ve never had before. During the height of the snow/sleet mix, our power went out. Our generator came on for about five seconds and immediately shut off.

Cross-Country Skiing with a Pole and a Prayer @DDuPreeWilliams #faith #winterstorm #answeredprayer Share on X

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT CRAZY GENERATOR?

It had never done that before. Just last week, we had the annual check, and all was well.

Or so we thought.

Since temps were dropping to single digits and with the wind, the feels-like would be in the negatives, Hubby knew he’d have to get that machine working.

He donned his heavy yard shoes, a heavy jacket and a cap and went down to the generator. There is about 2 inches of snow on the ground, mixed with sleet, and it is coming down for the next 24 hours. My brave, sweet honey.

Once there, a light flashed with a message about an emergency alarm. What is that? Had no clue what that was. Were we supposed to hear it? Above the noise of the neighborhood generators all humming in dissonance at once?

AND THEN THERE WERE LIGHTS

Ten minutes later, that light was off and the generator joined the neighborhood chorus. Yay! I went about turning off things that didn’t need to be on. Hubby made it back to our home, a bit damp, but okay otherwise.

The trek to the backyard meant he had to go out our front door, walk down our very long wooden walkway, already covered in ice and snow. Then he had to walk across two icy driveways, through our next-door neighbors’ front yard, and down their side yard. Final portion of this trip took him across their and our backyards to get to our generator.

Tuesday, we decided to remove some of the thick ice since the sun was out and temps were above freezing. We cleared off a two-foot cube of ice formed in the corner of our rear deck, the one above the generator. That took some hard work and a bit of time. After that, we began working on the front walkway.

Our next door neighbors (on the other side, not the ones whose yard he’d walked through) drove by and stopped to ask if we needed anything. Since by this time we didn’t hear their generator (ours was still humming away) Hubby asked about power.

To our surprise, he was told it had only been off for about two hours then came right back on.

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

We ran our generator for two days.

It is getting toward the end of the afternoon. Dark will soon descend upon us.

Remember, the entire area surrounding our home is covered with at least a two to four inch, and sometimes deeper, sheet of ice. It is very slick. Very dangerous.

Hubs says he has to go turn off the generator.

Do what?

I tell him to just let it run until the people can get here to check it out.

Well . . . I didn’t win that argument.

So, off he went. Dressed warmly, the same shoes he’d worn to turn it on. But this time, armed with a super-duper hiking pole our son gave him (thank you, Christopher) and a shovel in case he needed to move ice out of the way. And my prayers to cover him.

I was nervous as a cat on our icy roof, but I put my trust in God.

THAT CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING TRIP

He made that same trip as described above. But this time, the ground beneath his feet was frozen solid. By the grace of God and a lot of prayer, he made it and got the generator turned off.

Then, he had to make that same trek back to our home. He said he fell once, on the way to it, which was downhill, so he kind of slid part of the way. This time, it was a bit harder because it was all uphill. I could see our parents trekking to school in the snow, uphill, both ways. I snapped the above photo of him, and it reminded us of a cross-country skier.

Several anxious moments passed as I stood in the garage and waited for him to come around the corner from the neighbors’ home,

When he stepped inside, I grabbed him and wrapped him in a huge bear hug. My hero!

We’re very thankful for the generator and the two safe trips to it and back to the safety and warmth of our home. I’m thankful for the power of prayer, and I’m thankful my husband only suffered some sore muscles and damp socks. We will all be thankful when this snow and ice has melted away and become only a distant memory. We praise God through all the storms of our lives. To God be the glory!

Stay safe and warm!

Blessings, y’all!