Every few years, someone new to our city council proposes banning wood-burning stoves in new builds, and half the island turns up to yell at them.

I don't think there's going to be a need for as much yelling this year.

Delightful afternoon and evening in the cabin, but we are going home this evening instead of tomorrow morning because of the impending storm. Which is actually not all that disappointing, because... unsure? Maybe because what we'll mostly just be missing a night's sleep and leisurely breakfast in a cabin before going home? One night of a hot tub under the stars was worth it, I tell you what.

I'll walk around a little in nature today... in small bursts, maybe. It's cold. But then, I'm good. It has been restorative, and I'm grateful.

Not grateful for the snowy non-power-having mess so many people are struggling through, however. That can stop right now. Though, as noted, the aftermath won't be good either.

There is a story from when my sister and BiL moved from Buffalo to Richmond. During the first winter, snow started to fall sometime in the late afternoon, and my BiL's work allowed people to leave early if they wanted. He went home, got up the next morning and scraped off the 1 inch of snow, admired the few flakes coming down, and drove to work . . . where he found several people there who had spent the night because they were scared of the storm. They told him if he could "get through" the snow, he should get home while he could.

Friends in Dallas are doing okay. Everyone stay safe!

On the news this morning I saw film of places where it had warmed up enough for the pipes to burst and water flood out - in several stories of a high-rise. I feel sorry for the people this has hit so hard - they weren't prepared for it, their infrastructure can't handle it. I hope they warm up soon.

In a related story, D.C. is one of those places that gets snow but handles it badly (there's a running joke about THE snow plow). Often really badly, One winter, This Old House was working on a house in D.C. It snowed ... less than an inch and the city shut down. The people filming, hardy Bostonians, thought it was pretty funny - in Boston, seemingly, this would barely be noticed.

In Seattle people make fun of shutting down for an inch, but it’s so hilly here, and so often close to freezing causing ice...

Things I will do for a chance to get a COVID vaccine: wake up at 430am, drive an hour round trip to drop off my dog at a friend’s, to show up to volunteer at 615am. Fingers crossed.

There have been a number of times we lost power for several days, or more, but it was hot and sticky, not freezing. Big difference.

Frozen pipes, and frozen people. Very scary.

A mayor in Texas posted a rather, um, stringent message about the people whining about not having heat or electricity. After the responses, he's resigned.

We're still okay here this morning. No power loss, no new frozen pipes.

I honestly don't know what I would do if the power went out for days, even here.

Yeah, I lost power for a few days one time, in the summer, when I was going to the office all day, and I hated it! And literally all it was was inconvenient and a little hot.

In a related story, D.C. is one of those places that gets snow but handles it badly (there's a running joke about THE snow plow). Often really badly, One winter, This Old House was working on a house in D.C. It snowed ... less than an inch and the city shut down. The people filming, hardy Bostonians, thought it was pretty funny - in Boston, seemingly, this would barely be noticed.

But that's because we are prepared! At this point in the winter, all of the roads and sidewalks are white with salt, and every truck has a plow on it. Our houses are insulated! We own snowboots! etc.

Texas wasn't prepared. One of the more compassionate comments I saw was about what if it was 120 in Minnesota in the summer?

I still remember when we moved from Louisville to northern New Jersey and it snowed for the first time. In Louisville, there was almost now snow - there were photos of me bundled to the eyebrows groveling in about half an inch of snow trying to get enough for a snow ball. Then, the first snow - 11 inches. My mother assumed we'd be snowed in until the spring thaw and kind of panicked.