"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6.

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Monday, December 22, 2008

Ice Storm - Day 4

All day Friday...all day Saturday...all day Sunday...and this is Monday...so it's the fourth day we've been in exile from the Grabill homestead.

We are extremely grateful to Kate and Chad for allowing us to invade their quiet home. Evidence of our presence is definitely felt and Kate is being a very brave girl with Mom and Dad in such close proximity. Memories of all those times she was embarrassed simply by being around us are, I'm sure, in the forefront of her mind, yet she continues to be strong in the face of such difficulties.

Some of the evidence...

Computers laying around...

Meg's favorite winter wrap-up blanket and heat bag...

...and the deep sense of stress which pervades the entire episode.

Today's trip home to Grabill brought some surprises. With subzero temperatures last night, the threat of frozen water pipes was great...and it happened. So far, there are two locations in which it is known that water froze in the pipes. First, the kitchen sink...which now needs a new faucet and second, one of the radiators, pictured below:

Water from the radiator burst into the room splashing up to 10 feet away and leaving a mess on the carpet.

Here are some more pictures of the ice storm which has caused all the problems.

The tree in our neighbor's yard which pulled down our telepone wire, ripping off the siding.

Another view of the siding.

The redbud tree in the front of the house. You can see how the trunk is being split by the weight of the ice on the limbs. Not sure if we will be able to save it.

Yesterday's pictures showed the limbs in the backyard...here are some that we dragged into the front yard.

A tree limb fell down and popped one of the boards off of our fence.

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