Big wind, big snow, big nuisance
As most people are probably aware, New England got socked with a huge storm. Here on the Outer Cape, we survived hurricane force winds that roared all night and most of the next day. We got no sleep that night. Objects were hitting the house, the windows, the roof. Trees were bending alarmingly. We also received about 28 inches of snow. Woody spent all of two days [occasional rest periods to get warm and change into dry clothes] digging us out enough to be able to leave the house. The first thing he did Tuesday morning was fill the bird feeders, since they were starving and would not survive. He dug the path down to the road, which did get plowed before the storm was over, although there’s still a lot of ice and snow on it. He dug out the truck – 4 wheel drive. But the car is still lost under an enormous snowbank. Tonight for a change it’s going to snow. and then Sunday night into Monday, more now and probably more on Wednesday. Xena, our huge rescue cat, was frightened of the blizzard. Puck was stolid for hours and then finally got upset too. Sugar Ray ignored it. Said, I’ve seen worse. Mingus said, never mind the snow, pay attention to me. He is saying the same thing now, perched at the end of my keyboard and occasionally hitting the caps lock key. One of the worst things about these storms for me is that my assistant Melenie is spending 5 weeks at MacDowell to work on her memoir, which is wonderful. It should be a useful experience for her and help her to make good progress. However, I need her to do a number of things to set me up for her absence – but she couldn’t get here Wednesday, probably won’t be able to get here Monday or next Wednesday, and then she is off. I have to get ready for my tour that occurs well before she gets back the 2nd week of March, and she has her own way of organizing her computer and the files. I am quite dependent on her. I’ve been writing poems, but couldn’t during the storm as I was too worried. We did not lose power, which I find almost unbelievable. We’ve lost power in much smaller storms. Many times. When we lose power, we lose heat and water too. We were a week without power after Hurricane Bob. Shitting in the woods may work in August, but not in January and now in 28 inches of snow. We were stuck, snowed in for a day this time. They got our road plowed relatively fast but we live up on a hill and it was late Wednesday before Woody could get the truck out and go to town. Twenty-five foot waves hit the back shore. I imagine that a number of summer houses [nobody can live year round on the back shore; it’s uninhabitable all through the winter months] went over the cliff. One third of Truro was without power, including Melenie. Ptown was almost all out. Nantucket completely lost power and was partly flooded. Some people are still without power on the Cape and some roads are still impassible, so we are lucky and know it. The Friday into this morning storm was relatively small potatoes. It’s extremely, unusually cold for here but the sun is glittering and the sky is a pale blue with drifts of smeary clouds. We are anticipating another big storm Sunday night through Tuesday morning. Tonight friends and a great meal. Tomorrow the Super Bowl and new storm.