Spring might be close!

With March just around the corner, the southerly winds have begun to blow. Bringing warm moist air from the Gulf of Mexico. The air will mix with fronts from the north and our Spring time storm season will begin. In the meantime, its those days before the the thunderstorms that provide a brief respite from the cold winter days. Yesterday was one of those perfect spring type days. Not too much wind, lots of sunshine, and perfect skies.

Yesterday I ventured out the sailing club with the cargo area on the 4Runner filled with sails. As you know from previous posts, I completely reworked the boom. Painting the outside and rebuilding the internal wire to rope halyards. Its better than new.

Bella Luna is now ready to sail. All we need is another perfect warm Spring day. We'll fire up the engine, hoist the sails, and enjoy the day.

Honda EU 2000i

We have survived the ice storm. The daffodils and crocus are starting the poke their little green sprouts from the previously ice covered ground. All in all, things are looking up. One exception is the enormous pile of brush in your yard. We have piled and stacked for days and days. Last weekend we cut wood until we were exhausted. I have more than pick up load in the back yard. It will eventually go the sail club or my friend Jimmie's house but at least it will be used.

During the height of the storm. I felt compelled to purchase a generator. Since we were using a borrowed one, and the power company said it would be another week before we would have electrons in our house. I ordered a Honda EU2000i generator.

So, what you may ask is an EU200oi Honda Generator. It's a whisper quiet suitcase generator. Weighing in at only 40 pounds and super fuel efficient. This small generator will be capable of powering our refrigerator, gas furnace, computers and television. All ready for the next big power outage. But wait there is more!!

The Honda will run for 15 hours on a single gallon of gas. Producing some 2000 watts of pure sine-wave electricity, perfect for even the most sensitive application, like a computer or television set. With its automatic throttle, it purrs quietly with about 50 db of noise. Normal conversation is around 60db to 65db. It's that quiet!

Truthfully, I don't think we'll ever need it for another power outage. Although, in the past 6 years, we've had two periods of electrical outages lasting more than 5 days. So, I suppose that there is a remote possibility. I actually purchased it with the boating season in mind. See, this little generator can run the entire boat--including the air-conditioning. So we plan to spend more time away from the docks this year, and more time on the lake. In comfort!

Ice Storm Video

Here is the video that I took duirng the ice storm.

Life and Ice in NWA

The iciness arrived in Northwest Arkansas and has been both beautiful and devastating. We are still without electricity at home. We are managing with the use of a borrowed generator(Thanks Jimmy and Sue!). We are staying warm and clean (the water heaters are gas). The most exasperating thing is the disruption of our routine. I feel that I can't get anything done! Vacuuming has become a priority. Laundry was done in one massive strike at the laundromat on Friday. I discovered that the generator that we borrowed can run the central heat but not my blow dryer!!!!

We took an after dark family walk in the freezing rain and sleet on Tuesday night when the weather moved into the area. It was surreal to say the least. Walking down our road the trees were snapping with noises that sounded like gunfire. This was followed by the crash of ice and wood with a tinkling overtone. The skyline was dark due to power outages but the sky would light up green from lightning frequently. The sleet would crunch underfoot and the city was unnaturally silent. Our very quiet neighborhood now purrs and roars with the sound of various generators.

Our beautiful red bud tree in the front yard was a victim of the storm. It now remains as a stump only. Michael and Dom may be digging tree holes this spring. Work continues and we are spending the afternoon at the local coffee shop. We are both working at the computers we have brought from home. The sun is shining brightly and it seems like it ought to be warm outside. We cleaned some around the house yesterday since the ice had melted but the enormity of the task is overwhelming and not going anywhere soon. We'll get to it later. Now we needed a breather away from the darkness of the last several days.

Additional pictures can be viewed on the following link