April:

It's been quite the experience. A terrible ice storm hit my area the last weekend of March. We were helpless as we watched the ice accretion climb to a full inch. The power went out. Trees bent over to touch the ground, and then the temperatures dropped. It was too cold to sleep, so I laid there, listening to the trees snap and shatter all night long.

We were fortunate to have a small generator to run the sump pumps and essentials, but at one point, it died and needed a new fuel filter. The...