…but we’re doing okay. When the power went out on Monday, I thought, “This is too soon. We’re going to be down for days.” Fortunately.
Up until now, we’ve never lost power for more than eight hours. In fact, the joke has been that the military must be keeping a UFO in cryogenic storage in The Creepy Zone because we always got power restored first, even before our three traffic lights on Main Street. Well, now if I look at the Angelborough Outage Map, there are half a dozen houses without power, and they’re me and my neighbors, the only dark lights in the Swamp.
And I said “fortunately” because as soon as I thought that, I piled kids into the car and headed to Angelborough Hardware and bought one of the last three propane grills and a little propane cylinder, and hand sanitizer (I’d forgotten to get that) and shelf-stable milk. And when we got home, I filled a 55-gallon trash barrel with rain water. We can’t drink it, but we can use it to flush toilets.
So we’re working through our bottled water and our “good for washing dishes but not drinking” water and our “don’t use this for anything other than the toilets” water, and the power company keeps promising things like “Your power is already back on” and “It’ll be on later tonight” and “We haven’t forgotten you, Ma’am.” (I’m not seeking them out, btw. The “Your power is on” came from a phone call they willingly made to us, unprompted, to let me know the house was not actually cold and dark. I guess the Force is strong with the weak-minded?)
We’re not that bad off. We’re camping at home. It’s okay. My prayers are with the power crews and with the folks south of us who really got whalloped. But I’ve gotten a few emails from people who were concerned, and I wanted to let you know — we’re fine. I’m cooking out of an ice chest like my great-grandma did, but we’re fine.
Thanks so much for the update, Jane. Some of my best memories are of camping in the living room, eating food my mama cooked on the Sterno cooker, and keeping warm with the fireplace when the electricity went off for a week during a freak snow/ice storm in the DC area. I can imagine the stories your kids will tell.
They’ll whine to their grandkids about the fact that you can’t flush the toilets without a bucket and we didn’t go to McDonalds *every* night. 🙂
Thanks for the update – I was worried!
Usually I’m the one worrying about you down in The Real Swamp and The Real Hurricane Zone. 🙂
Well, we’re a little more accustomed to getting them (we still have one more month left in “We’re All Gonna Die” season). Though in light of recent storms, I’m going to be a lot more conscientious about evacuating.
Thanks for the update! I’ve been peeking back at your blog daily, hoping that everything was all right. 🙂
Was thinking about you the other day, wondering how close Angelborough was to the main impact. Glad to hear that everything is okay, all things considered. Stay safe.
So glad to know you’re okay!
Glad you are okay, Jane. We seem to lose our electricity so often now that I’ve come to expect it. Amazingly enough, we never lost it with this storm though. Boy, were we surprised!
I hope your electricity comes back on soon. “Camping” gets hard when it gets cold. (Laughing at the McDonald’s comment – you have no idea how many times we went there the last time we lost power.)
Same here. Glad you all are safe.
How are you guys doing?
Glad you and family are safe. I hope your “extended” family is safe as well. Hugs.
Very glad to hear all’s well & under control! This has to be getting wearisome though…. Please know that your gang is more than welcome to come over & use our electricity, hot water, and whatever else you need, at any time.