Aftermath

Less than a week before this storm, I was awakened by what I thought was the flash of an electrical transformer blowing (visible through the skylight above the sofa where I had fallen asleep.) Turns out it was lightning, followed by thunder, followed by 60 lbs. of black Lab in my lap. And that was followed by the power actually going out and staying out for 12 hours.

That was the second power outage of the season. The one that is the subject of this blog entry is the third. This one was all wind. I hate the wind storms. I could not sleep at all, listening to everything blow around outside, and waiting for the tree I was sure would come through the roof at any moment. Amazingly, the power didn't go out until 4 a.m., almost eight hours after the wind started. The Big Guy got up to get the wood stove going and feed the pups; I was finally able to fall asleep until daylight came a few hours later and revealed the aftermath.

It didn't come through the roof! We were very fortunate that nothing important was damaged -- house intact, chicken coop and Hawthouse fine, all people and animals (neighbors included) none the worse for wear. This tree was the biggest casualty.

The Big Guy was happy because he got to fire up the chainsaw. Little Zuzu was happy because she likes to jump on stuff.

Otter wasn't quite convinced that another tree wasn't going to come down.

Teensie was happy because she got to sleep in the paper basket near the wood stove.

Even though we have a generator, The Big Guy liked to heat his tea water and warm his toast the rugged way. I waited until the gen was fired up to use my fancy coffee maker. I know how to rough it, I just choose not to. I'm okay with that.

The power stayed out all through the day on Saturday and into the night. We ran the generator periodically to keep the fridge cool and long enough to cook a meal and take hot showers. Other than not having TV and internet, it really wasn't much different than any other Saturday.

Sometime during the night it snowed, and the power came on at 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

As I was cleaning up the branches that had brought down some of the netting over the chicken yard, I discovered that the chooks loved the boughs!

They hadn't ever had access to them, and they swarmed around the branches and pecked at all the little seeds. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, and it always makes the chickens happy to be in the light. They rolled and rolled and rolled in their dirt under the coop.

The field was glittering.

Tomorrow is the first day of winter. This was only a drill. I repeat: This was only a drill.