Today we had to answer for our smugness about the mild winter that we had been experiencing. Sunday’s wind became ferocious and, even though we had little snow, the sound of the furious wind kept increasing while we kept hoping that it would abate at least somewhat. Dawn came and we were left with no power, later discovering that we had no water either in any of the three buildings. Eventually power returned, but we still had no water, one of the pipes having burst and another possibly frozen. As a result we are surviving and keeping warm, yet waterless except for some bottles of commercial water. It is in such circumstances that one recognizes the importance of water. The wind is not quite so furious as it was earlier, but it can still be terrifying. One of the pine trees has broken and is leaning over the metal shed, otherwise we have not had the problem with trees as we did last winter. It appears that tomorrow morning help will arrive to deal with our water problem and, once everything returns to normal, we must wait for the next assault. We were sent some photos of this year’s Yolka which should appear together with the daily diary.
