Heeding the warning of the impending freeze, Dad ran out to buy a couple of small space heaters to put under the citrus trees in an attempt to keep them from freezing. It didn't work, but we were sure glad to have those heaters when our gas was shut off the next day--along with about 30,000 other homes!
 |
| Our sad citrus trees with frozen leaves. We hope the trees make it. |
So we had no gas and no hot water for about three days. Dad got to escape to the office every day and enjoy the heat there, while I managed to stay toasty warm by using the space heater in the bedroom and keeping the door closed. We heated up water on the stove for our baths, which wasn't so bad, except for the very refreshing rinse at the end with water from the tap.
 |
| Dad staying warm in Michelle's quilt a few days before the big freeze. He loves his quilt! |
Our adventure ended Saturday afternoon when the Southwest Gas man came to light our pilot lights. On Monday morning I began picking grapefruit and oranges as fast as I could, knowing they wouldn't last long on the tree. Usually, we can eat it at our leisure until about May or so.
 |
| Two hours worth of harvest |
As I picked the fruit, I thought, "What good could come of this?" It occurred to me (likely it wasn't my idea) that we could call our neighbors and see if they wanted any fruit, and take bags of fruit to the Empty Nesters get together that evening. So we did. Everyone was really happy to have it. We gave fruit to five neighbors (Merricks, Duerkson-Finnegans, Dahlkes, Raus, and Holmans) and about the same number of ward members.
 |
| See the bee? Several of my bags were buzzing with trapped bees. It was a warm day--about 70 degrees! |
A lot of good came of the freeze!
1 comment:
I still find it a little ironic that while I was scraping ice off my driveway thinking "I wish I were in Tucson" that you were actually colder in your house than we were in ours.
Glad you were able to keep warm.
Post a Comment