1.29.2009

Breads and Milk

I'm going to have to take back what I said on my previous post about bringing on the storm. I'd like to send it back and send it back with all of the destruction it brought when it came to town. And to the little old lady at Wal-Mart warning me to get my "breads and milk" before this blew in, I apologize for laughing about you with the people I work with. You were right.

This wasn't the ice on the roads type storm that I was expecting. It was so much worse. The storm moved in on Monday evening with some light freezing rain. By 5AM on Tuesday, we were without power. Okay - this won't be so bad. The electric company said it would be back on by Wednesday - I could make it one day. It actually came back on just after lunch on Tuesday long enough to make some coffee (it was getting cold). However, after a loud, scary explosion somewhere on my mountain, the power was out again.

The storm grew uglier. Tuesday afternoon was spent huddled under a blanket on the couch listening to the constant sound of breaking tree branches. The loud pops were followed by the deafening crashes as huge branches and top halves of trees came falling to the earth, to my house, on top of my neighbor's houses, in my yard, and almost on my car (I was sneaky and moved my car before it was too late). For about 5 hours it was nonstop snapping and popping until it started to slow down. It was dark by this point, so I wasn't able to see the destruction until Wednesday morning.

We spent Tuesday night in a dark house, playing Trivial Pursuit, cooking soup (thankfully my house has a gas stove) and letting the temp get very close to freezing in our living room.

Wednesday morning was scary. The entire area looked as though a frozen tornado ripped through the area. There was no way we were getting the cars off of our street - thankfully we had a friend who parked his Jeep down the street and could get out. We drove around that day, taking pictures, enjoying the heater in the car, and eating in a heated fast food place.

Wednesday evening was like Tuesday - but much, much colder.

Here I find myself at Thursday. I'm at a place that is warm and has internet and tonight we're all staying at a friend's house who has power (warm beds are always a good thing). Who knows when my house will have power again - this weekend? Next week? Dunno.

Send me good thoughts - this is surreal, scary, sad, and oddly enough, beautiful. Nature can really do some amazing things - even if they aren't ideal.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good thoughts heading your way. There's nothing like scary weather, entirely beyond anyone's control, to make you feel unsettled. Though I agree that it is beautiful, if going by these photos.

Sunny said...

Beautiful pictures of the devastation. Hope it all come back up soon.

dogwood said...

Glad you guys are making it. Like a frozen tornado hit is exactly how it looks here, too. We just got power on today (out since Tues. as well)..... and now the clean-up.

Anonymous said...

We had an ice storm in 96' when I was in high school, much like what you're describing. We were without power for 12 days and it was terrible. But kind of fun in ways too. We listened to the radio, played cards, cooked on a camp stove, and hung out by candle light. I took showers at the high school gym for a few days once school was officially reopened... it was an interesting experience to say the least, but also, very beautiful. Once you have a gorgeous blue day and the ice is still around, you'll see so much more beauty. Hang in there hun. Glad to hear you at least have a gas stove. And friends with power. ♥

laila said...

i'm glad to hear you're okay erin! try to stay snuggly (gather up all that wool around you!). happy you have a friends house to retreat to- good company & a warm place to sleep make all the difference! warm wishes.
<3

Elise of Argyle Whale said...

oh my! what a storm! I'm glad you're safe.

Whirlwend said...

thanks for sharing your experience and photos of this storm... it was definitely a contrast of beauty and destruction.

Anonymous said...

Hugs, Erin. I hope your house gets into working and heating mode again real soon.
Down here we don't have storms like that, but we did in Germany when I was little. I remember how we loved it then. It was beautiful, we had no worries with it, being tiny, and everybody huddled in front of the fire.
But I would think that the grown ups felt just as you do now. Scared and anxious.
Feel better, Erin. It's going to be all right again soon.