It's Friday, which means it's time to join Annie (at A Stitch in Time) along with the wonderful ladies at Friday Smiles.
On January 1, Wichita had an ice storm which eventually dumped up to eight inches of snow on top of the ice. 
My entire neighborhood lost power for over 12 hours. It was brutally cold, windy, and dark, even during the day.
Two days later I finally ventured out on my no longer frozen pond (aka my front porch) and took a few photos. Note how buried my "flower bed" is. Note the animal paw prints that barely break through the snow in the lower right of the above photo. 
Some of the snow had already melted, but you get the idea of what I encountered. That large rock is nearly covered, still.
I can laugh about it now, but while I was huddled under covers with my two heaters (aka Bleubeard and Squiggles), it was not so funny. I'm glad I didn't think to take any selfies, or you would have seen I was wearing gloves, two pair of socks, a sweater over a long heavy gown, and drinking mostly cold coffee. The heaters (yes, Bleubeard and Squiggles) fared better. They are used to eating cold dry food and drinking cold water, the only utility that didn't depend on electricity.Finally, even though I don't often talk politics,
I am appealing to my International readers, friends, followers, and lurkers to please not judge my country too harshly. What many of you undoubtedly saw on TV or the internet has now been considered an act of domestic terrorism caused by Q-anon and Proud Boys, but not by the entire country, or Antifa as falsely claimed. We are a nation of laws. Most of us also believe in our Constitution which was created of the people, by the people, for the people. This is not about ideology. Each person has the right to believe as s/he feels, as long as it doesn't damage or hurt another person. It's about destroying Federal property, our nation's capitol, our nation's house. It's also about destroying, or at the very least, splitting the very fabric of our society.
We are truly a resilient nation. When we are backed against the wall, like we were at Pearl Harbor and on 9/11, we actually come together stronger, more united, and unified. Please don't let the scene above cloud your image of the United States. There is truly HOPE (my word for 2021 is being put to use already) on the horizon.
Thanks for stopping by. Now let's head over to Annie's because she knows how to put a smile on everyone's faces. And whatever you do, please don't forget to start your weekend off right with a few Friday Smiles of your own. And remember, if you would like to play along, Annie would love to have you join us.
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22 thoughtful remarks:
WOW look at that snow, gosh I'd love to experience this in my part of the world...love it. Politics, yes we heard all about it over here, down under...shame. x
Oh that snow.
I am very glad that you have power back. My father often said that if you are too cold or too hot follow the cats. Where they are is THE most comfortable spot in the house.
He had a point.
I watched the domestic terrorists (and the inciter in chief) in horror. And know that your country is more than that.
Good morning from a snowy, but not as bad as yours, Lancashire in the UK.
I hope things have warmed up for you now and that things in your country settle down soon.
I’ll have to admit the scenes are not good.
Like you Elizabeth I have a word for 2021, well two actually and it’s MOVING FORWARD.
With a smile and good community whether online or for real we will get there
Take care
Lynn xxx
Your snow looks pretty, but how awful to be without electricity in that cold weather. Stay under the blanket and keep warm! What happened in Washington can be laid at the feet of Trump and the mob he incited. Stay safe! Hugs, Valerie
Your appeal to friends outside the country not to judge us for the actions of a mob is very well-stated.
Like a majority of Americans, I'm appalled by the mob violence, and especially by the actions of the president, who wound up the crowd, incited them to invade the capitol building, and had arranged for the police and National Guard to be unavailable to protect Federal Property.
Also like a large number of Americans, I hope he will be held accountable for his seditious behavior, and that the next two weeks will pass peacefully until we have responsible government again.
Good luck with getting over the snow and keeping your electricity on!
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
OMG, yay for Bleubeard and Squiggles!!!
Brrr....
As a German I can hardly judge your country, it´s never "us" as in you, me, family...
But ... yes. I am sick and tired of seeing your "president" on our news!!! With so much dumbness and still power, it´s embarrassing.
Hi Elizabeth, that looks like a very cold twelve hours...Brrrrrrr It's only when something like that happens that you realise how cold a house can get and fairly quickly too. Pleased your furry friends were helpful. I must say we were shocked at the news report and some of the attitudes of the people they interviewed but realise that not everyone is like that. We do get similar things occasionally in the UK usually in London and it just seems as though there are some people who love this kind of thing and it doesn't take much to set them off. It's very sad that they think it's okay to behave like this but they did have some encouragement and we all know from who. Take care and sending warm hugs, Angela xXx
Brrrr. very cold at your house. I hope you've had a few days to thaw. As to the the terrorists at the Capitol. It wasn't about destroying a building. It was a coup, an act of sedition encouraged by President Trump. An attempt to over throw the new government legally elected because Pres. Trump wants to install himself and his family as an oligarchy. His campaign 4 years ago was to drain the swamp. He is the swamp
Wow you did get hammered with a wintry blast of ice and snow. one thing I miss from the woods house is our two wood stoves-when the electric went out-and it did during storms like yours-we always had heat and I could also cook on top of the stoves.
I denounce all violence as does President Trump and he always has, before hand he asked the dc mayor to secure with law enforcement to protect the buildings-they refused to why I ask?? He also gave a speech asking the protestors to go home and be safe-of course big tech took down his message. its really something how the news likes to spin the events to suit their needs. I hope we find out who really caused the violence-I watched all of it live at the time it was happening
the hatred blasted from every where-big tech censoring, twisted un truths from the media, the refusal to even look at all the hard evidence of the fraud-it's there why not look at it so we all know. I would think the nation would feel better and could come together if we could only know the truth. not this onslaught of hatred these past 5 years which has been unprecedented
Wow, an amazing snow amount! Good for you finding a way to get through it. One thing I noticed, you still had water. That’s lucky, we have a well and lose water during power failure. Nothing more to say about your civic appeal to others. HOPE is the word and there is much of that now with things changing and good people in our future. So I say in response to your appeal, AMEN!
I'm really late in doing my visits today. My excuse is I got rather distracted in making Wilhelmina Wood Mouse a pintucked blouse [as you do :-)]. I plan to do a show on tell on my Wednesday's post if you want to see the results.
That's a serious amount of snow you have there my friend. I do hope you managed to keep warm.
Hugs,
Annie x
Poor you with no light and heating. I am not a big fan of the snow. Fortunately when my three younger boys were small they had a big brother who was always willing to take them sledging up the hill, and help build snowmen in the garden. Now, like you, I would stay in doors. Here snow is very rare at our level, though not up in the mountains, but even so it has been extremely cold this week. I have worn thick trousers and jumpers in the house, as well as gloves, and a blanket to wrap around me. And nearly always there is one of the cats on my lap, though the passed few days they have been so wet that I haven't always welcomed them sitting on me. The trouble is, our houses are built to be cool in the summer and have very little heating for the winter.
But it amazes me how when all that snow and ice has gone, the plants will wake up again and be as lovely as ever. There's something to look forward to. In the meantime, keep off the ice and stay warm inside.
The pictures of the riots were appalling and shocked most folk who saw them. And I amazed at the bare-faced bravado of those involved who see nothing wrong with what happened, but I do know they were a very small group out of your vast population, and I am sure the rest were as distressed by it as we were. Rest assured, we know this was not the 'true America'. Kate x
Your yard looks pretty in the snow. But not having power is no fun. (eeks-double negative)) We have no water when we lose power, but cold is worse than the water situation. I had to laugh at your style of dress because I often do that even with heat. Not laughing because I think it was funny but I can relate. My husband says it is because I am cold blooded and have snake venom in my veins. I often walk around with a winter hat on and my big fleece bathroom over other layers. Just glad your heat came back on. And you put the events of the other day much more eloquently than I. I am sure the emotion was high though; how could it not be? I do have hope that we can heal as a nation once we move forward and not have prominent people turning up the hate. Have a great Friday. Hugs-Erika
We had snow! Yesterday we got about 12 flakes I think, and today the big, fluffy flurry lasted about 5 minutes lol Your snow blanket is lovely :) No power, on the other hand, can be scary.
That the coup failed, even if the face of the catastrophic failure of the capitol police, is a testament to our ability to overcome. It's a damning indictment of our current president and our security arrangements. I'm still in shock.
Trump's history of inciting violence and inflaming his base speaks for itself and has led to this. His first video praising them and saying how he loves them? Despicable. He's said this is just the beginning. That there are Trump supporters claiming this wasn't them but "somebody else did it" reminds me of little kids denying they took the cookies from the cookie jar. That they continue to claim there's election fraud and refuse to accept that every investigation and court ruling so far has shown that to be a lie.
---not that I have strong opinions on the subject... ;)
bleu and squiggles; we wood looze what little oh R mindz that bee left if we had that much snowz...and on top oh ice.....we had ice on de day oh de new yeer and we haz been with out powerz sew we total lee understand
as far as polly tix iz concerned....we will say we iz glad we iz
CATZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goodness me, that is a lot of snow.
Keep warm!
All the best Jan
Ohhhh nooo snowww. I hope I never have to live in snow country again. Keep warm and stay safe.
Oh My...that's a lot of snow dear Elizabeth! I can't imagine being without power for more that 12 hours!
As for the events the other day, we watched how they behaved and were horrified...but...we have seen examples of people with very strong convictions be invaded by louts who just want a piece of some violent or controversial action both here and in France. Our own city was wrecked by a looting mob a few years ago and we were once on a Metro in Paris when they tried to set fire to the line in front of us and were delayed by about 20 minutes until they decided to move on and some officials removed burning wood from the track!
Having seen interviews and clips I am in no doubt as to the reason Trump's supporters behaved as they did. Some of them went way over the line of acceptability for sure but I expect that many of them there did not have any strong political convictions!
I do hope you have warmed up by now, Hugs, Chrisx
Good luck with your power. I think you have more snow than we do. And yes, our national reputation is somewhat in tatters right now but it's important for people to know that this isn't the real America. It's a part of it. But not all. Not the majority.
Oh Elizabeth! All that snow! What a nightmare. We have had much snow too and because of the fact that an important electrical cable has been damaged by the snow that we have had no internet for nearly 48 hours. I have my phone, which has internet via the phone system, but I can't do comments on it (Blogger doesn't like iPhones).
So here I am ,a bit late.
I',m so sorry you have been so cold. What a blessing to have two lovely feline friends to cuddle up to. I had to smile at your attire under the blankets...
We often have power outs, so we have invested in gas heaters. They are the size of a gas bottle and we have one in every room, just in case. Also, my cooker is gas. But in bad weather without electricity, we can't have a shower as there is no hot water. Well, we can survive that for a few days.
We don't have tv, but I read in the paper (online) about the attempted coup at the Capitol. I was shocked! I do realize your country is not a country of hooligans. Actually it sounds like the people who were involved were mainly anarchists, white supremacy fanatics, conspiracy theorists and general trouble makers. Unfortunately the president has attracted these sort of people. Personally I will be glad to see him go. I regret very much that it has divided your nations so much. There is much healing to be done once a stable government has been established..
Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Lisca
I'm sorry to hear you lost power when it was so cold. I have no way to heat my house, either, if the electricity goes off in Winter. :-(
As you know, I love the snow, but I sure hate that you were suffering in cold weather with no electricity! Sending warm hugs, RO
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