The cold cometh

When I got up this morning, it was a balmy 54, and warmed up to 57. It was warm enough to walk my dog wearing a light polar fleece jacket. We did a good walk, saw other dogs and walkers out there.

Now, about 3 hours later, we’ve dropped to 40, and it was 42 just a few minutes ago. The cold has hit.

Just for reference, here in central Texas the things I’ve done to get ready for the cold.

  • Outside faucets are covered, and hoses have been disconnected and the water drained as best as I can.
  • In ground plants I care about (lemon tree, etc.) have been covered.
  • Potted plants have been moved up to the house (up against it on the patio) and covered.
  • I will start an indoor water dripping shortly (before we hit freezing).
  • Wood is piled on the patio (I have a holder for it there) so I can build a fire in the fireplace.
  • I have candles set out in the kitchen (that’s the main area next to the living area).
  • I have gotten extra blankets out on the bed.
  • I even have a spare battery pack charged for my cell phone.
  • I have a small heater by the one water line that froze last time in the garage (it was by the water softener).
  • I have spare water, a case of bottled water.

As a single person in a house I am the only one here to take care of these things. And so I will.

The last time this area got a swath of cold like this we had power outages. So this time I am doing all I can just in case that happens again. I hope we don’t have that, but I’d rather be prepared than not. At least this time we are not expecting any rain, snow, freezing rain, etc. The roads are dry, though it is cloudy, they are not predicting any precipitation. We are expecting to hit a low of about 17 degrees tonight.

Let’s hope I’m prepared.

**UPDATE**: It is now 9pm and it is 16 outside.

12-22-2022 cold front

They are now saying 14 for a low, but I won’t be surprised if we dip below that. There have been some power outages. Luckily we still have power. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.