No, I won't complain about my lack of power, heat, etc. for five days last week ...

I was able to drive around (into woods, along creek beds, and into severe mud), over (yes--to the sadness of the underbelly of my trusty Honda) and under (trees that formed "teepee's" over the road in the swirling winds as at least one hundred trees were blown directly onto Highway 109 (according to the newspapers, although I managed to get around only about forty) on my way to work last Monday Morning. The final tree (above) stopped me cold and the police wondered how I even got onto the road after I got back to where 109 and 115 (into Ocean Shores) converge. The problem was that they set up their emergency roadblock sometime after 6:00 a.m. when I entered onto what was a killer stretch of road in a killer windstorm.

It was a miserable cold and uncomfortable week without communications (telephones out and cell phone battery dead), power and heat for what turned out to be three hours less than exactly five 24-hour days.

But even so, the later ice storms that hit the west and Midwestern states made me feel seriously embarrassed by my complaints. Ice and ice storms that cover everything with ice scares me more than any other natural disaster--especially at my age.

See Why (below)?