O Pioneer!

The weatherman said a dirty word.

Sleet.

I prefer to delete that word from my vocabulary. And while we're at it, let's skip "freezing rain," too. And unless we're talking about tea, I could do without "ice."

Time will tell which of these will fall from the skies during this round of winter weather. The frozen precipitation is hard on new baby calves. It can be hard on farm wives, too ... especially if it means no electricity.

I would not have made a good pioneer woman. I like my modern conveniences way too much.

I certainly don't want a repeat of the December 2007 ice storm. We were without electric power for 12 days. Electric lines and poles toppled under the weight of the ice.

Crews have been working in the area replacing power poles and electric lines. With some sporadic outages as they switch equipment, I've been reminded about how dependent we are on electricity. Like most rural folks, we also don't have water when the electricity is out.

As long as I get a little advance warning, I can handle it. It's just those unexpected four-hour stretches when I have to channel my inner Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I must admit: I like reading about The Little House on the Prairie more than I like experiencing it.