The Middle Atlantic States are getting hit hard by the weather. The heavy snow fall is only part of the story. Here in Montgomery County, Maryland, we were without electricity for about 60 hours: from Friday night until noon today. What an experience this turned out to be. The furnace and the oven both have electric components and so were non-functioning the whole time. The temperature in the house dropped to 54º F by Saturday morning, to 48º Sunday morning and to 44º this morning. Overnight lows outside were 10º F one morning and 12º another. We have a land line phone, so we were not completely out of touch. And the stove top is gas, so we had warm meals (I had stocked up with food in anticipation of the snowfall). The refrigerator and freezer were not running throughout this period, so we tried to minimize trips to either. For those of you who like to plan ahead, in addition to things such as generators and food, be sure to provide for an effective toilet seat warmer: the cold seat was the worst ordeal of all. We walked around inside all day with hats and in down jackets over long underwear. Lights were out, of course, at sundown, and sundown is about four or five hours before our usual bedtime: that meant four or five hours of no radio, no books, no TV, no Internet, no Google or email. Nights were spent huddled under mounds of blankets. We looked like WWI refugees or bagworms. Roads were eventually just barely passable, and there was no way I was going out in the car. The snow fall amounted to over 24 inches: our little dog Biscuit is about nine inches at the shoulder. When she stepped off the front porch, do and math and decide what happened. Another storm will pass through the area tomorrow; it’s predicted to bring between 10 and 20 more inches of snow. If the snow is the sort which clings to power lines, you probably won’t be hearing from me for awhile. This new storm is predicted to be accompanied by high winds – bad news for our area where power lines are all above ground, and tree limbs are already weighted down with snow. A few hours without power is one thing; when it goes on for days at a time, it’s a real test. We’re treating this as a winter camping experience. The heavy snowfall did a lot of damage to woody plants: limbs are down all over the neighborhood. We never felt we were in any danger throughout these events, although the relentless cold day and night was unnerving. But my thoughts were on my two most protected cold frames. Over the years, I’ve assumed that these benefit from heat seeping from the house. With overnight lows in the 10º F-12º F range, and no active heat in the house itself, there might be a sad story awaiting me when I finally open the frames. But that won’t be anytime soon. Will I see home-grown Tropaeolum azureum in bloom this year? It’s hard not to be a bit pessimistic. I’m cross-posting this to Alpine-L. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/