Monday, November 7, 2011

A PLAGUE OF SNOW


A little over a week ago on October 29th, parts of the east coast and New England were hit with a freak snowstorm. Some towns received as much as 19” of snow. The trees here in my neck of New Jersey hadn’t lost their leaves yet. That’s how uncommon snow is in October for us. The result was trees and branches and power lines, laden with heavy, wet snow. A recipe for disaster that turned into disaster as those trees and branches began to snap from all that weight, taking power lines with them. You couldn’t get from here to there because either here, there, or both were blocked and inaccessible.

A branch came down at the end of our block. It hit a power line, sending sparks that ignited the phone, Internet, and cable lines to our street. Another branch dangled precariously over a power line, threatening to fall at any moment and take out our power. One report I heard said that a million people in New Jersey were without power. That's over 10% of the state's population. Two days later, 600,000 still had no power.

Some parts of the country are used to snow before Halloween. Not us. Half the time kids go trick or treating around here without coats covering up their costumes. This year there were few trick or treaters. Too many branches still dangled and threatened to fall on little goblins and ghosts as they tramped from one house to the next.

In the last few months we’ve been hit by an earthquake, another rarity in New Jersey, and massive flooding. Now a freak snowstorm. I’m wondering what’s next, a plague of locusts? Perhaps we need to sacrifice a lamb and mark our doorposts with its blood.

Lois Winston writes the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll will be a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

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