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the ice storm cometh and kicketh our asses I realize not everyone lives on the west coast of the U.S. or cares about what’s happening in that region, so it might come as a surprise to some of you when I report that we had an ice storm a few days ago. It affected over 200,000 people, destroying property and cutting off the electricity for a few days. Some of us went longer without it than others, but as of this writing I believe just about everyone has had their services restored. It was nothing like what’s going on in Texas.  To say we were unprepared for things like loss of power is a massive understatement. We were lucky to have a fireplace, luckier still to have a wood pile that was decently stocked. Thankfully eve had a few candles set aside, but as far as emergency preparedness goes, we were terribly ill-equipped. No dry food stores, no flashlights with batteries, no potable water, none of that other typical stuff. Oops. Maybe next time, if there is one.  The damage to our backyard was extensive, but mostly it was just littered with debris. Tree limbs did take down a power line that runs from the house to our garage and shed, and definitely took out a few sections of backyard fencing, but we got off pretty lucky I feel. Our cars were covered and did not get damaged at all, and the limbs crashing on the roof and sliding down the side of the house to the ground might have sounded severe, but ours is a two-story affair so the limbs really weren’t falling that far before they hit. That’s really lucky because there were a shit ton of them.  I went out the morning after the storm and took many pictures, which I’ll post soon. The ones I’m putting up right now are the “lighter” versions of what occurred - of the aftermath. Photos of the damage done throughout the city will be up shortly. When I returned home, the power went out (it was around 8:30am) and didn’t come back on for nearly 4 / four days. During those 4 / four days I didn’t do much except keep the house from devolving into chaos. While I remained to clean up a bit outside, take care of the defrosting refrigerator and freezer, look after the cats and keep the house warm enough to be livable, eve was off spending the night in any hotel she could find that had power and comfort. Each day got tougher, yet within all that was and was not happening, I began to find a new routine to keep from going crazy. It was just as tough on my mind as it was on my body.  You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone? I can say that about electricity, especially when everything is connected to it. It meant cold showers or none at all. It meant only being able to eat things that could be cooked in a skillet on top of the fireplace, which for me was a pain because I use the oven for everything. Laundry would have been an actual chore, versus the mindless task it is when you have a machine that’ll do all the work. The biggest things were lack of heat and light, of course, so I spent a great deal of time keeping a fire going, and all that is required to do that. It meant doing dishes and other tasks by candlelight, which is inconvenient to say the least. Ever try to wipe your butt in the dark? The next house we live in, I’m going to insist we have gas heat and gas stove, and the purchase of a generator seems like an excellent idea.  Using my phone, I actually did a bit of writing while the power was out. I mean I sent myself long emails that I’ll transcribe eventually. My routine got all messed up, but thankfully the power is back on and I am returning to it without further delay. If any more time had elapsed I might have lost or dropped some of my new habits but I’m getting back into the groove right on time. The disruption to my schedule was complete - not only did it affect my eating and sleeping I also stopped doing the oil pulling, practicing the guitar, you name it - but not of a long enough duration to do any permanent damage. My “2 / two steps back” weren’t 3 / three or more, so I resume moving “2 / two steps forward” with renewed confidence and determination. That’s all the ice storm talk for now, but I guarantee you there’ll be more, especially when I post the more destructive photos of the aftermath. |
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