Power-less

It all started around 2:30 yesterday afternoon. The first flicker of the lights, then the deafening silence of a powerless home. The day had been filled with rain, sleet and high winds. Downed power lines were to be expected.

I had an appointment across town at 3:15, so I manually lifted the garage door, jumped in the Jeep and took off - slowly. The temp wasn't too bad and I wouldn't be gone long, so I felt ok leaving the boys at home. Plus, I needed to stop by the hardware store and get some survival gear. The drive out was wet - just rain. But the drive home was a TOTALLY different story. The sleet and snow had started - blizzard condition. It was piling up on the roads. 35 mph down the interstate, with only one lane really cleared. Fun.

The hardware store did not have much left for choices. I wasn't the only one without power that was forced out to buy survival gear. In fact, as of this morning's news, over 100,000 people across the state are without power. The pic above shows my investment - a propane heater and some battery-operated lights.

After having some dinner, the boys and I snuggled up on the floor near the heater. We napped off and on until about 10:30 pm, listening to 70's tunes on a local radio station. Around 10:00, I heard the scraping of shovels on the sidewalk outside. I was excited that I wouldn't have to wade through un-shoveled sidewalks for the last potty walk of the evening. As soon as the coast was clear, the boys and I set out for one final walk of the evening. When we got in , we just went to bed. It was warmer upstairs anyway, and our respective beds were certainly more comfortable than the floor.

Around 3 am, we were awoken by the flash of resuming power. Followed quickly by the soothing hum of the furnace!!! Yeah! So, we survived. It was a boring evening, but I actually appreciated the extra shut-eye after the long week of drama-filled work events.