Per the National Weather Service, our little corner of Paradise might get between five and twelve inches of snow between now and tomorrow evening. Yes, that is quite a range and we tend to get on the low end of the forecast, it seems. Not that we would be dreadfully disappointed, mind you. Sometimes, getting less than expected is a good thing. Fewer stripes than promised seldom causes the flogged pirate any great grief, I suppose.

Last year, we prepped for an onslaught of winter weather that was forecast to cause several days of power outage. I drove my little pickup over to the nearest fuel station and bought eleven gallons of K-1 kerosene. Figured we could at least fry breakfast each morning and keep one room in the house warm most of the time.

That’s what we did in the aftermath of the great Ice Storm back in December’06 when the whole region was covered with broken branches and fallen trees and the electricity was out for somewhere between three days and three weeks. We were fortunate; ours was only out for a few days.

Right there in our beautiful Tudor two-story on Douglas Street, we set an iron skillet on top of our brand-new kerosene heater and fried eggs, bacon and toast each morning. The house, though, got pretty dang cold and we sure were glad when the power came back on!

Last year’s dire warnings pretty much fizzled out. Much ado about very little, as the poet wrote. Maybe two inches of snow. Having quite the excess on hand and needing at least one of those fuel jugs for other varieties of flammable liquid, I used kerosene for charcoal lighting, backyard fire lighting, pasture burning, old hay igniting, and brush pile incineration. Heck, I even used some of it in the kerosene heater in the garage! Still have about six gallons left.

I reckon we’ll see what the day brings us. Randa did drive over to Saint Joseph yesterday afternoon and freshen up the grocery stock. We’ll pray for safe keeping, avoid any unnecessary jaunts out on the highway, and trust that no matter what happens, the Lord will be with us, and we will be with him. Do what you can, don’t be an idiot, and leave the rest of it up to God.

Whether you’re talking about winter storms, raising kids, or neo-apocalyptic disaster.