Yes I have much to be thankful for.
My heart goes out to those in this awful weather.
Bonnie

On the news they were saying cold people could go to the senior citizens center but that it is closed when school is out. I understand not wanting elderly drivers going to the center on bad roads or falling on the ice, but not helpful for people in trouble. Also the red cross is open for people in Joplin during day time hours. I guess you could go there and then go home and get in bed with lots of covers. I think neighbors and relatives better be checking on people.

I worry about the homeless too. Hope the shelters aren't having to turn people away.
I saw a man sitting in his van in a parking lot with lots of stuff in it and a cat sitting on the dash. I suspect that he was living in his van but it's hard to know. I think there are many NEW homeless this year that won't know how dangerous the cold weather can be and won't know where to go to get help. I especially worry about the ones that refuse help and choose to sleep outside no matter what.

I don't want to be outside at all when it's so cold and windy. What a difference it makes. I suspect the wind chill doesn't affect plants like perennials that are sleeping underground but I wonder about trees and shrubs that are borderline hardy. We'll see how much my crape myrtles die back this year.

We didn't get what they thought we would. The wind is blowing and still messing around some. I know they have been fighting in Springfield with trying to get hostels and other places for the homeless. I work in Branson and feel like they try to sweep the fact that their are homeless here under the rug because of tourist $$. Then I drive down the street and see all these buildings ( churches, theaters, hotels) that have to be heated with their doors locked. They keep the restrooms around town just warm enough that the pipes don't freeze thinking that will keep the homeless out of them. I just hate it. But I don't do anything other than donate to the food pantries so guess I'm not doing as much as I could.

It ended up dropping below zero last night after all. It's minus 4 right now but was minus 6 when I checked it before the update. Did I hear the forecast wrong? I thought it was only supposed to go down to 7. I didn't leave the water dripping last night but everything seems ok.

They got freezing temps way down into the south. Houston Texas had at least four nights below freezing. Bet there are some disappointed gardeners there.

I forgot to leave my water dripping too because it seemed warm yesterday. I have water but when I first ran it, there was a smaller stream for a while. I think that means I'm lucky it didn't freeze.

We made it fine with the water situation (all left running a small stream). DH said it was -4 this morning. My kitchen thermometer never registers it correctly.

Won't it be nice not to have to worry about the water freezing?

I think we have made it over the hump for at least this time. Pipes here at work frozen yesterday. So many people with frozen and broken pipes here because we don't usually have this cold this long and of course young people don't think about it until they experience having to replace pipes. Took me twice to remember to take the garden hose off outside and I'm old. But you can bet I did this year! Kathy