The Storm.
Well, Renee was definitely right. I most certainly did get my wish. As of now, I think there is about an inch of ice covering everything in my hometown. The power went out at 3:30 AM on Thursday night/Friday morning and has been off ever since. Because my mom lives outside of town, we don't have city water, so the water has been out, as well. We loaded up on provisions before the storm (amidst jokes about how the storm would probably miss us) -- water, food, and toilet paper. We figured we could survive cooking on the grill, so we got some hamburgers and hotdogs.
The lights went out just as the ice started to get bad, and we went to bed figuring it would be fixed the next day. We waited the entire next day for power..and waited...and waited. The house was pretty cold, but we fixed up an area in the living room by turning on the gas fireplace and hanging a tarp across the main beam between the living room and dining room and closing the slide door. We spent most of our time in there, reading by candelight. It's so lucky that my mom is obsessed with candles and oil lamps. I don't know what we would have done without them.
When we went to light the grill, it worked the first time for some hot dogs, and then the propane was quickly gone. All of our planning was for naught; the tank was almost empty.
We sit now in a hotel in a town an hour south of Renssy, which received none of the ice. The trees are undeniably beautiful with their drooping boughs, yet we have lost many branches and trees and the threat of the storm on the horizon looms menacingly. If we get the wind that is predicted, I fear we will lose many more.
Apparently, our area is under a state of emergency. They hope to get power to our house by tomorrow, but they say it could be two weeks before we get any. They've brought in workers from southern Indiana to work on the power lines. There are 1000 breaks in the lines between our house and the power company. Since they've gone down, they have had all of the police officers, firemen, city employees, and power workers working around the clock to restore power to our small town. Sarah says that she read an AP release that suggests there are 120,000 Indiana homes without power. I believe it. My mom said half of the people who came to the clinic today with their animals don't have power, either.
It baffles me that such beauty can bring such destruction. I am in awe every time I look out the window. I'm glad that we're in the town that we're in now, because I actually really like it here, and we can go Christmas shopping, but I hope that we're home for Christmas. We spent Christmas away last year and I hated it. This year, I want to be home. Even if the memories of Papa's death make me sad, they are there no matter what. I want to feel close to him during this time of the year.
At least I know we'll have a white Christmas. :]
The lights went out just as the ice started to get bad, and we went to bed figuring it would be fixed the next day. We waited the entire next day for power..and waited...and waited. The house was pretty cold, but we fixed up an area in the living room by turning on the gas fireplace and hanging a tarp across the main beam between the living room and dining room and closing the slide door. We spent most of our time in there, reading by candelight. It's so lucky that my mom is obsessed with candles and oil lamps. I don't know what we would have done without them.
When we went to light the grill, it worked the first time for some hot dogs, and then the propane was quickly gone. All of our planning was for naught; the tank was almost empty.
We sit now in a hotel in a town an hour south of Renssy, which received none of the ice. The trees are undeniably beautiful with their drooping boughs, yet we have lost many branches and trees and the threat of the storm on the horizon looms menacingly. If we get the wind that is predicted, I fear we will lose many more.
Apparently, our area is under a state of emergency. They hope to get power to our house by tomorrow, but they say it could be two weeks before we get any. They've brought in workers from southern Indiana to work on the power lines. There are 1000 breaks in the lines between our house and the power company. Since they've gone down, they have had all of the police officers, firemen, city employees, and power workers working around the clock to restore power to our small town. Sarah says that she read an AP release that suggests there are 120,000 Indiana homes without power. I believe it. My mom said half of the people who came to the clinic today with their animals don't have power, either.
It baffles me that such beauty can bring such destruction. I am in awe every time I look out the window. I'm glad that we're in the town that we're in now, because I actually really like it here, and we can go Christmas shopping, but I hope that we're home for Christmas. We spent Christmas away last year and I hated it. This year, I want to be home. Even if the memories of Papa's death make me sad, they are there no matter what. I want to feel close to him during this time of the year.
At least I know we'll have a white Christmas. :]