147. Sandy—Ten Day Effect
I did postings many days in advance of the Storm Sandy and that’s what you’ve been reading. Now I’m typing this on Thursday, November 8, and it will be posted on Monday, November 12. Today we are on Day 10 of no power and are currently hopeful for restoration of power later today or tomorrow.
By no power I mean no power at all as we sleep. We have a generator which during the day and evening hours gives us a little heat in my daughter’s section of the house, keeps our two refrigerator/freezers going pretty well, gives us a few lights and some internet. We also have no water, so have been using the bucket system with toilets, have a 500-gallon tank of usable (but not drinkable) water next to the generator. My daughter and her family are campers so we have the luxury of a camp stove and she fixes at least one hot meal a day.
What I think about all of this is that we’re managing. I’ve gotten into a rhythm of a new way of going through the day and while not ideal it’s working pretty well. Now that roads are fairly clear, I go to some meetings where they have power and enjoy their heat and their facilities. As a matter of fact, I enjoy the heat in the car as I go somewhere!
My daughter said just yesterday, “I’ll be SO GLAD to vacuum, and I don’t even LIKE to vacuum.”
I’ve noticed that the evenings are the hardest. I find them dragging time-wise and I yawn and think it must be time to go to bed and it’s only 6:30. It feels hardest to do things in the evening and I end up reading, which is always a good thing in my scheme of things.
The other interesting thing is that I have found that when I’m out and doing things, I just want to get home. Friends have gotten their power back and said, You can come be with us. My other children an hour a way have power and they have said, Come stay. And I have wanted to just be home. It may take me some time to figure that one out.
I don’t want to sound too Pollyanna-ish or too comparative, but seeing and reading about the devastation of this storm, our ten days out of power haven’t been that bad. I told a friend this morning, “We’re acting out being pioneers—with a few conveniences!”
Guess what—On November 8 at 6:30 in the evening, the very day I typed this, our power was RESTORED! YEAH!
