Snow's coming.

And we here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of eastern West Virginia tend to get hit harder than those flatlanders in Northern VA to the east or Washington, DC. Accu-hunch says we're looking at up to 19", so subtracting a bit for their typical over-estimation and then adding more due to our location on the mountainside, I figure that we're gonna get socked in pretty well over the next couple of nights.

I went to the store today, and got the requisite survival supplies, so the dogs and I are set.

What? I mean, seriously, who doesn't keep a rotating stock of foodstuffs good to last a few months? Other than the dim-bulbs in Atlanta, I mean. Dogs and I just have a few extra goodies to bunker down with, watching movies and reading books, and maybe reloading some ammo until the storm passes. (And yes, I do have more beer...and some good bourbon up in the gun room.)

Now knowing how much snow we're likely to get, coupled with the moisture in this system that promises either heavy snow or icing, I figure that we may lose power for quite some time during the storm. That being the case, I just finished running a generator test (Started on the second pull after sitting for months--damn, I love me that machine!) and I've laid out some power cords sufficient to reach from it up to my pellet stove and the kitchen, so we'll have warmth and the ability to prepare food, come what may. As a back-up to that back-up plan, I brought more wood into my basement shop for the wood stove down there. Worst case, the dogs and I will move into the shop and stay warm down there if all else fails. And I have more Coleman lanterns and stoves than I'll ever have need of, but buying them at yard sales and flea markets and rehabbing them is an obsessive hobby of mine. When I get too many, I give them away to friends in need or emergency relief organizations.

As for fuel, I just found ten gallons of gasoline next to the generator in two jugs that I'd thought were empty. +10 for having the extra fuel on hand, but -20 for not knowing it was there. It's at least six months old, probably older, and since I didn't Sta-bil it, I'm going to have to rotate it out through my jeep a few gallons at a time now.

My Jeep is parked at the bottom of my steep driveway instead of at the top, because if I need to get out fast, I want to avoid making like the Jamaican Bobsled Team by trying to negotiate that slope un-shoveled. My M-60 is also broken out and set up for when the state plow comes along and tries to shunt 30 cubic yards of packed ice and snow into my driveway within an hour of me shoveling myself clear. (I will get the bastard this year...Bet.)

So as the storm approaches you--if you haven't already been pounded or missed entirely, be careful and be ready.
And beware of photo-bombing black Shepherds in the dark.