Adventures Without Power!

Your Thanksgiving Rose
Your Thanksgiving Rose

November 17
Day 1 without power:

So about today. The wind was whipping around when I walked out to the main road with Z, to wait at the bus stop. After she got picked up, the cats and I romped around the garden, leaves, hair and fur flying.
I went in to eat breakfast, read my morning blogs and write. Although at about 9AM the power flickered and I had to unplug everything important, and turn off surge protectors.

I unplug stuff cause we once lost a TV when the power came back on, even though it was on a surge protector. So, everything expensive gets unplugged at our house.

Not long afterwards the power cut out for good. Love full batteries on my laptop and phone!

In good spirits. I dressed warmly, three layers and got a blanket for the lower half. Kept on writing.

At least I’d made my second cup of tea.

Got my 2,000+ words done in about 3 hrs.

Sometime after my cold lunch, around one, the power came back on. I plugged the phone and laptop back in and cranked up the house heat.

Oh, and all this time I’d been escorting wasps outside. One or two an hour.

See, this summer the internet guy was outside stringing new cable cause things weren’t working. He got stung and told me we had a wasp or hornets nest up in the attic. They were going in through a screen over an outside vent.
I decided to wait till the fall/winter when they were dormant to deal with them or have them dealt with.

But as the temperatures outside have dipped, they’ve found a way into the house. Le sigh. They bang against one of the windows, where there’s a cat bed. And oh doesn’t she like to try and catch them.

So we trap them with a glass and postcard and escort them outside. (Spousal unit says it’s probably the same ones I’m catching and releasing over and over again.).

We haven’t kept count, but I’m guessing it’s 10-15 per day.

So, the wind storm kicked up like mad. Nearly 60 mph gusts. Trees coming down all around us. Lots of crashing.

The neighbor on one side had a massive big leaf maple on their property fall across the main road. It was about 3’ across. Luckily it hit no power lines. No sooner had it fallen than guys in pickups who just happened to be carrying chain saws leapt out of their vehicles and began sawing away.

No sooner had they cleared the road. and backed up traffic moved along, than the neighbor on our other side had another maple of similar size come down. Again, across the main road. Same thing. Guys in pickups with chain saws!

It’s a thing!

Lots of excitement.

Lit nearly all the candles in my collection. For years I used to buy every candle I could find on sale. Then after they took up a large box, I stopped. Over the years they’ve dwindled due to winter power outages. (Although we did have a nasty 3 day outage in August due to another windstorm.) Anyway, I’ve got pillars and votives and tea lights. In more scents than I care to smell at one time. Some are in honest to goodness candle holders, others china saucers and still others on slabs of stone floor tiles. I’m stocked up.

Spouse went to bed early, 1AM wakeup for work. So Z and I watched ‘The Fifth Element’, again, on my laptop amongst the candles. Cereal, sharp cheddar cheese and crackers for dinner.

Cold going to bed. Phone as alarm clock.

November 18
Day 2 without power:

Woke up at 7AM, cat scratching at door, demanding to be fed. Got up fed cats. Could have slept till 8, since the phone message said school was running two hours late. But at 8 they called to tell us it was cancelled. Too many schools without power and roads too hazardous for buses.

I went back to bed. It was at least warm there. Two cats were happy to hold me down.

Was woken at 10AM by Z. It was so cold we decided to eat breakfast, cereal again, and go run errands. So got in the car and I plugged my phone in to charge.

As we drove off the Rez, it was apparent we’d be getting power back no time soon. I counted 8 places (in 6.7 miles) where the power lines were on the ground or there were trees (1-2’ across) still dangerously resting on the lines. At least two places on the road, things were blocked off so only one lane was open. No flag people were staffing these places. It was just courtesy.

But the nearby Outlet Mall had power. And Z had a gift certificate. So we shopped, ate lunch at the food court and window shopped. Then went to buy more milk and do a drop off and pick up run at the library, then home.

No progress on the power lines on the road or the hanging trees.

At home, spousal unit had brought home a block of ice for the refrigerator. Yay. Buckets of water sat in the bathtub, so we could flush the toilet. Always a win.

And we had a large container of drinking and washing up water over the kitchen sink.

And more wasps to play catch and release with. I think this was about day six for them.

We decided to flee to the in-laws to cook our dinner, so the meat wouldn’t spoil and recharge electronics. And shower.

So we did everything to prep for the following day while it was still light.

And I stuffed five days worth of newspaper into crevices where I thought wasps were coming in. Hoping it would work, temporarily.

Then we abandoned the cats to the cold house, with food of course.

We got to see the top 20’ of a massive Douglas fir that snapped and blew onto the in-laws roof, leaving a rather large gash, and totaling a section of their fence. But it was external damage at least.

We plugged in, showered, cooked, ate and chatted. Then a few hours later came home.

Scary driving the dark, tree dangling road. Once home, spousal unit and Z headed for bed. I made a fire, hoping wasps were thwarted.

Had the fire going only for three hours, but it was toasty in at least one room. Lit every candle in the house. Got only 500+ words in. Too tired. Went to bed.

November 19
Day 3 without power:

Phone alarm at 6AM. Aack. Tell me it isn’t so. Got up and fed cats by lantern light. Started a crackling fire.

Drank cold Frappuccino while journal writing by candlelight. Not so romantic on day three.

Got Z. up. Went out to bus. Declined walk around garden due to severe lack of sleep. Came in fed fire, caught and released at least five wasps. Sigh.
Sat in chair by wood stove and alternated, catching wasps, writing and feeding the fire. Emptied the inside firewood and then saw a wasp coming out of seam between wall and floor behind firewood storage area.

Went outside to find pavers to close it up. Found three pavers. They were sort of wobbly. Ended up taking two very large two-hand rocks from my indoor collection to brace against them.

Refilled inside firewood stash.

Caught five more wasps, but they’re coming in slower. Made hot water on wood stove. Accomplished hot tea! Yay!

Got my 2,000+ words in. Nanowrimo I’m not down for the count yet.

Fell asleep in chair while trying to read and avoiding outdoor work. Fed fire. Hot leftover soup on wood stove for dinner. Oh yay.

Not.

Attitude going down hill fast.

Lighting every candle in my collection tonight. Laptop battery at 7%, Phone at 40%. Haven’t seen the internet for three days. Sob.

Signing off for tonight. Must save enough I can open computer tomorrow.

November 20

Power came on in the middle of the night! Whoo hoo!

Hot tea for the morning. Heat. Although no internet till halfway through the day.

I’m so wasted from all the drama that I decide to rework my schedule for the next two days, only doing the necessities and turfing everything to next week.

Very grateful for electricity and the interwebs. So spoiled living in this day and age.

Put all the candles away.
No wasps for twenty-four hours. Yay! I think we’ve blocked off their entrance. Either that or the freezing temps outside have immobilized them.
So that’s my stormy adventure.

Now, it’s back to normal life. And writing fiction, which is safer. Snort.

Because you really can’t make this stuff up.



What are your thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.