It's really cold! And when it gets this cold, things happen that are...unexpected. Yesterday morning was interesting. I had gone to bed the previous night, thinking..."Every one's pipes are freezing. I hope our well doesn't freeze." Doug wasn't home, so I couldn't ask if the heater had been turned on in the pump house. So, I went to sleep hoping that we would have water in the morning. We did. Faucets running, toilets flushing, good! But in the middle of getting the kids ready for school we had a 'brown out' (that's when the electricity doesn't go completely out..it just causes everything to dim). That lasted a few minutes and then we lost power...then it came back on...then we lost it again. No power...no heat...no water! I managed to get the kids to school, and came back hoping the power would be back on. Nope. I went out to our barn to get a load of firewood and while bringing in the wood...POWER! Wait...only for about 3 minutes. But then about a half hour later POWER AGAIN. I waited a little while just to make sure that it was staying on before I hopped in the shower. I turned the water on and did notice that there wasn't much pressure. I should have stopped right there. I got in and decided that I should hurry because I didn't know if the power was going to go out again. The water was really warm...but there just wasn't any pressure, so I was pretty cold. I had just put the conditioner in my hair and had started washing...soap suds everywhere...and then it happened. The water....started...to...DISAPPEAR! I started yelling at the shower head, "NO! NO! NO!" Are you kidding me? I just stood there, yelling at the shower, not really knowing what to do. I was covered in soap and goose bumps, conditioner in my hair and I just stood there. We still had power but obviously our well had frozen and whatever water we had was what was in our tank. What on earth was I supposed to do now?? There was a little bit of water in the bottom of the tub so I plugged it, crouched down and tried to splash the water on me to rinse off. Um, that didn't work because most of what was there was soap suds. So, I got out. Wiped the soap off, wrapped myself up in my towel, put on my robe and headed for the kitchen. We had water in the fridge. Too cold, but I was desperate. But then I remembered that we had gallons of water in our basement as part of our food storage. I ran down there and grabbed one, pulled out a pan from the cupboard and started warming up some water on the stove. It seemed to take forever. I don't know if I have ever been so cold before. Because we had been without power, the fireplace had not been running for that long (it has a fan on it that forces the air into the house) so there wasn't much warmth. Once the water was warm...wait, make that HOT! I filled a pitcher full of it and got back in the shower. I had let the water get too hot and it was burning my fingers as I put my washcloth in and tried to sponge myself off. So, out again to add cold water from the fridge. Then back in, poured the water over my head. Not enough. I was really wishing that I had short hair at this moment. So, back out again to refill. BURRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! Can anyone tell me the first signs of Hypothermia? Back in the shower I went. That was my last time even if my hair wasn't completely rinsed out. Oh, my goodness. I felt like I was in some sort of comedy! I needed some background music and a warm trailer to go to when my scene was finished!
I was indeed grateful for the fact that we had power so I could warm up the water on the stove. And that the power has stayed on since. And I am grateful that my brother-in-law fixed the well so that hopefully, it won't happen again. But I will say that I am a little nervous about taking a shower today.
