New Years Day

2006 is starting out in fine style here. We have gale force winds, and torrential rain. Our Christmas lights have blown down and our recycling bin is spinning on the driveway. It looks like I need to go out and get wet…

I finished taking down the lights and cleaning the gutters just as the rain resumed. I headed indoors for a snack. As I looked out on the back yard, a sudden gust of wind ripped several large branches off one of our trees with such ferocity I really wondered why I had been up a ladder 10 feet in the air 5 minutes before.

Then the power went out. It went on and off a dozen times and I yanked the plugs out of the Tivo’s in fear they would die a horrible death. We waited… some lights came on weakly, the phone came on downstairs but not upstairs and nothing really worked. The gas stove refused to give out gas to heat our food in fear that it might be creating and explosion. The gas heating followed suit. We tried to leave our house and get food, but the electric garage door that lay between Dena’s car and the outside world refused to budge. We felt trapped. My car lay outside and so Alexander and I made a break for it and went for lunch…It took us nearly 30 minutes to find food, between the restaurants that were closed for New Years Day and the restaurants that were open but had no power. Finally we found some pizza and a chocolate cookie.

It’s now nearly 9:30pm and since 6:00pm we have no power here at all. It’s New Years Day and our collection of candles gives out enough light for me to type and Dena to knit. Alexander sleeps upstairs under the covers.