No Power to the People
The week started with the weather channel and the local news telling us a big storm was coming,, a cyclone bomb, a nor’easter with high winds. We got most of our rain Monday night, and that was fine. No problem. Can use the rain for our gardens that are bearing their fall crops. But thunderstorms kept us awake.
Then Tuesday it hit hard. First, the furnace went dead. The power went out just after supper. The cable went out shortly thereafter. the phone went silent. The internet died a bit afterward. The only things that still worked were our propane powered generator that runs the pump, the freezer, the refrigerator and would run the furnace if it hadn’t broken down, and then a couple of lights. It isn’t big enough to run the entire household. The other things that still worked were our cells and the gas stove. We had to be careful. No hairdryer, no dishwasher, etc. It got colder and colder. We were able to heat bedrooms with heat pumps, but that was all. My office was the same temperature as the outside, ranging from 52 to 48. The kitchen was just as cold and the bathroom felt like it was carved out of a glacier – one that wasn’t melting from global warming.
I kept adding layers until I resembled a human pincushion, all round. Maybe a bit lumpier than a pincushion. Maybe a large round warty gourd. Our village was totally dark, nothing in town with streetlights out, town hall, Preservation Hall, every store dark except the Wellfleet Marketplace that has a generator.
It was moonless, dark as if we were way inside a huge cave.
couldn’t work much as my computer wouldn’t save anything. I lost a poem. I read by the lamp Woody and I shared. He made a fire in the fireplace, but it gave little heat and was a bit smokey. Even during the daytime, it as dim. We went about with little flashlights. The wind howled and roared, keeping us awake. Even the cats couldn’t sleep through it. We had winds of Hurricane 1 force, 84 miles an hour. Amazingly, we didn’t lose any trees, although we were blocked in for a long time from a huge fallen pitch pine across our road. With no way to speak with anyone and no Tv or cable or even CDs, no music and little light to read by, I did a fair amount of meditation. But I was on edge, and Woody even more so. I cooked at first. But by Thursday night, some power was back on route 6, so Woody got a pizza. We ate on paper plates and tried to keep the dishes to a minimum, of course.
Finally Thursday night, the power came back on. That was an immense relief, even though the repairman came twice but couldn’t fix the furnace, or get it to stay on. this gets boring, so I’ll stop.
On Monday night when thunder was very loud, Schwartzie got scared and got into bed whimpering where the other two cats were. Schwartzie and Willow tolerate each other most of the time. Both prefer Mingus and cuddle with him, play with him – but not each other. But Willow saw he was upset and actually comforted him, licking him [which she never does to him] and lying with him. He calmed down. I can’t say we did. The lightning was loud and close, too close not to scare us. We’re getting another storm this weekend, but it shouldn’t be nearly as bad.
The last ten days, I’d been moving warmer clothes into my closet and moving summer clothes into the hall closet. I was very glad I’d begun that or I would have frozen. Also, I had just mail ordered corduroy leggings from Lands End, and wore them the entire time. They helped. After I froze the first night, we found two warm nightgowns in storage. That kept me from waking up with my teeth chattering..
It’s hard to get back to normal. All our routines were interrupted and we keep forgetting what we should be doing now that things are approaching normal.