Nothing new

LEOMINSTER -- We are still without power, going on 72 hours since it cut out early Friday morning. Very little has changed. No word on when power will return. Speaking with neighbors today I heard one report that we were still four days away, but another said he'd heard it would be two weeks before the entire town was back online.

We spent much of the day clearing debris. It will be a long haul to get all of the branches cleaned up. Hopefully we don't get any heavy snows until mid-January. Burning season starts January 1 and if we can get a bonfire or two before everything gets covered with snow it will help quite a bit.

We're still in Leominster for another night. Temperatures may hit the mid- to upper-fifties tomorrow and if we can get the house warmed up, we might try to stay there tomorrow night just to attempt to bring a little normalcy back to Jackson's routine.

Here are some pictures I took in Sterling this morning. We still have a long way to go...

Power lines down at route 62 and Chocksett Road.

A utility pole and wires down on route 62 at Wiles Road. Route 62 is still closed at the Sterling-Lancaster town line.

The telephone/cable line that is still suspended over Redstone Hill Road.

The catalpa tree is still heavily covered with ice even 48 hours after the end of the storm.

The view beyond our back yard. Only a handful of trees remain unscathed. Everything over 25 or 30 feet tall has been snapped off.

The front of the house faces north and do not get sun during the winter. The ice on these bushes has hardly receded since the end of the storm.

This bush still shows the full thickness of the ice.

The north and northeast facing side of this evergreen bush is still heavily encased in ice. The south facing side is clear.

Tags: Massachusetts Ice Storm Sterling Winter Weather