Ice Storm

The setup is classic. Cold arctic air flowing south along the plains, plunging temperatures thirty to forty degrees in a short time, with overriding warm sub-tropic, moisture laden air headed north above the cold, dropping the moisture along the way. What starts as life sustaining rain, ends up freezing on the way down and the ice builds.

This morning our roads appear clear, but Momma Dawg came to the back door with a layer of ice building on her thick coat. The vehicles are already covered with a thickening coat of ice. My girls are on the road to work in the dark, and my son is one of the DOT employees making it safer for drivers. I pray for their safety.

Ice storms frighten me. Driving in them was a nightmare, knowing that my own driving abilities were impaired by unknown conditions – and so were those of all who had to be on the road. We have them each year, and toward the last of my career, I found working from home such a blessing.

Those days, as today, I remained warm and dry inside, just as I do today. I pray for those who are not so fortunate. For those whose jobs are such that they cannot work from home, I pray for their safety.

The aftermath of Tulsa’s 2008 ice storm is still evident. Even in the spring, new greenery could not hide the scars of the broken trees. In the fall those leaves dried, died and fell, the damage again displayed. Huge trees lift truncated branches, accompanied by death still lying about their roots. Even with millions of dollars spent on cleanup across Oklahoma, even with hundreds of tons of mulch created from destruction, much remains on the ground. Such is the damage ice can achieve as it builds.

Day after day after day homes were without electricity. Some lines broken due to falling branches, some broken simply because of the weight of ice on the wires. Some downed as cars took down a pole or two.

Job understood, as he described winter brooks: Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid: (Job 6:16)

The psalmist, too: He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? (Psalms 147:17)

But I should not be afraid. From Genesis to Revelation there is a constant admonition to “fear not.” Instead, we are told to “know that I am” able to care for us in any and all circumstances.

It is up to me step aside. Allow Him to do so.