I had been procrastinating on a few post ideas, when post-worthy events dropped into my lap. My friends on the east coast, you've noticed some unpleasant weather lately? Like high winds and tons of rain in the form of a nor'easter? It was hard to miss in New England.
At first, I just worried about our MacGyver'ed dryer vent in the basement window. (My father-in-law did make us a Plexiglass window with a louvered vent in it for us to install at some point, but we hadn't gotten to it yet). I noticed the drywall was starting to wet through, and also that the window wasn't entirely air or water tight, so I rushed through two loads of laundry and then took some precautions.
I'd like to ask the person who wired our house if he was even aware that our state has electrical codes.
On the bright side, my concerns about the dryer vent got the laundry washed and dried before I started noticing some brown-outs. Ok, clearly it's the wind, because utility companies in New England still haven't discovered underground power lines. I was in the basement with the kids around 3:30 when the lights flickered three times, then went out.
Okay. Let's go upstairs. I texted Mr. Husband and suggested that he bring some dinner home, just in case the power wasn't back by dinner time. I led/dragged the kids through a decade of the rosary partly to pray for the restoration of our power, and partly to have something to do since our playroom was pitch-black. We read through some books in the waning daylight (I may have cursed the early sunset of the northeast to myself), played "camping," lit some candles, gathered a few flashlights, and started telling stories as we waited and waited for Mr. Husband to come home.
By some miracle, a pizzeria and a convenience store on the way home had power, so once Mr. Husband navigated three detours due to downed trees, he came bearing pizza, wine, chocolate, batteries for the flashlights, and ice for the refrigerator. God bless this man.
We were surprised to wake up to no power, but got the kids breakfast (after catching them with the refrigerator doors wiiiiide open and administering a scolding), and Mr. Husband went out in search of a Dunkin Donuts with power. We took three second showers with the remaining hot water in the tank, and Mr. Husband decided that he could still get a few house projects done without electricity. I went out for more ice and gas while he worked.
I married up.
I'd planned to attend the funeral service for a friend's mother, so I headed out to the church two towns over, took three detours around down trees, and arrived to discover that though the church was holding the service, they were also without heat or power. After the service I saw I had 8 or so texts from Mr. Husband informing me that it was too cold in the house to stay there with the kids, and that he, the kids, and all of the meat from our freezer, would meet me on the way to his parents'. Once we'd thawed out and had a hot meal, we decided we couldn't face another night without heat.
The next morning, after hot coffee, Mass, and breakfast, we headed back home to find no power, and most houses on our (hilly) side of the street using pumps borrowed from the fire department to drain their basements. After checking our basement for water (none except a weird drain thing by our bulkhead, which I'd covered with a towel to keep cold air out anyways), we decided to run some errands, then come home to either stay if the power was back, or pack for another night at the in-laws' if it wasn't. We were delighted to come home again to no internet, but a warm house, running fridge, and lots of blinking clocks.
Snug little cuddlebugs at home again.
Many thanks to all the utility workers and tree specialists who worked overtime for days and nights. Many thanks to God that we had neighboring towns still on the grid where we could get gas and buy ice and coffee, and a place to warm up during our 48 hours without power. Many thanks to the internet for being out for an extra day and reminded me how little I need it.
But seriously, we're getting a generator once any store within 50 miles gets one back in stock.
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