Frozen Pipes, Warm Hearts

Surviving the Blizzard of 2026

Good morning and greetings from inside the HMS Beagle, where we are getting warmed while charging my phone.

The Outer Cape was hit hard. Not with as much snow as other places, but the winds and gusts were devastating. According to the Boston Globe, the towns here on the Outer Cape are nearly completely without power. (We are in Barnstable County.)

Samwise and Emily are in fine spirits. As long as I am smiling, all is right with their world. And I continue to smile. I am looking at this as a grand adventure and a test.

They have plenty of food, treats, and long-lasting chews. It was a joy watching them wrestle in the new snow this morning.

The sun is out, making 27 degrees feel a bit warmer and more hopeful. And the white tableau is stunning.

I will take my time with the snow. This is dense, heavy, heart attack snow. I am aware of my limitations.

We will be under house arrest for several days. And that’s okay, but it would be preferable with heat and electricity. It’s not like we could drive anywhere even if we were plowed out. There is a driving ban for the entire Cape. Too much clean up to do, too many downed trees. Live electrical wires are down everywhere.

Overnight, I closed the heavy drapes over the three large windows to help with insulation. We woke up to 51 degrees inside, which we can handle easily. Alas, even though I left the faucets running, our pipes froze. However, we have water to drink and a couple of buckets for flushing the toilet. (I am a New Englander, after all.)

As someone who loves my greens, I lost much of our produce after the power went out. Thankfully, we have food enough for four or five days. While we had power, I cooked an enormous bowl of beans, rice, and corn. It took care of two meals and will be enough for a few more. Before a block of tofu went bad, I added it to the concoction. Doused with BBQ sauce, it is delicious.

There are oats, which I can eat uncooked with plant milk and fruit, cereal, cooked white and sweet potatoes. The freezer has bags of fruit, which will last another few days before I keep it cold outside. Hopefully, power will be on before then, but it could take days.

Our spirits remain high, although I miss typing away on my laptop. The battery ran out last night. The ebook reader still has plenty of power and I have a few actual books to read.

Lighting at night is limited. There are two headlamps, a candle, the iPhone, and that’s it. That led us to getting to bed early and having a terrific night of sleep.

That’s all for now as we cheer on the road crews and linesmen (and women).

We will check in with another letter later today or tomorrow.

The comments are open, so those of you impacted can let us know how you are holding up. But please, no unsolicited advice. That has been one rule since this Substack began five years ago. Any unsolicited advice will be deleted and the reader banned from commenting going forward. Thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness.

Onward, by all means.