Back in the 21st Century

Well, it is good to be back!!

we have been living the "old life" for the past week. On Monday Jan 26, our area got hit by the early front of a winter storm, coating the ground in sleet, and freezing rain, making travel by car somewhat treacherous. I managed to get home from school with very little trouble, but I didn't drive over 40 mph the whole way. Tuesday, I stayed home, rather than risk the 1 1/2 hour commute to Conway, on winding, slick highways. Tuesday, Jan 27, our region got hit by an ice storm that made the national news. Trees coated so heavily in "glass", nearly 1 inch thick! The "explosions" of breaking limbs and falling trees is something that defies sufficient description, until you actually hear it!

Bad enough to hear from inside the house, even more awesome when crashing yards away from you as you go to check vital systems and roads! We lost power just after dark, around 5 pm.

In a somewhat strange twist, not more than 30 minutes after our power went out, Michelle's mom called from California to ask us if we were out of power, and how long we thought we would be out. How does she do that??? We spent the night reading to each other, and listening to the explosions of splintering wood and shattering "glass", knowing the way our world would look the next morning :(

We are blessed on several points. 1)We do not currently have chickens, so we did not have to deal with farm houses during all of this, other than to make sure the big generators had diesel so that the heaters would run, keeping waterlines from freezing.

2)We have a gas stove, running water ("city water"), and a small fireplace, chainsaws and family close.

3)We have been instructed by Church leaders for how many decades to prepare for situations where we may have to rely on ourselves.

So we did what came easy. We roped up a big quilt across the opening between our family room and dining room, isolating that room to be heated by the fireplace. We took out the candles and lanterns, using flashlights that had been sitting next to us all day in preparation for the inevitable. We closed off all rooms, particularly my bedroom and bathroom, knowing that they work well as a "refridgerator" if the darkness lasts more than a day or two.

We laid out beds (lots of extra blankets) in front of the couch, found several books to read to each other, and settled in for a dark, but not so quiet night.

It takes a bit more planning to get things ready only on the gas stove, but we had yummy stews and chicken dumplings, warm cereal (mush) for breakfasts, Spaghetti, etc. Our only drawback on the range is that the oven has an electric ignition that will only stay on if it reads a certain temperature. This means we can't bake, but it is okay.

Having to boil water to get ready to wash dishes and hands is time consuming, but not fatal. Trying to bathe that way, however, gives me great appreciation for the pioneers who dealt with this lifestyle their whole lives. What a chore! Plus side....when only one is going to be out in public (me), we rotated bathing across those few days so that no one went more than 2 days without a bath, but we only had to deal with heating water for 2 or 3. I know, it sounds gross to anyone who has never experienced 4,5,6,10 days without electricity, but when you have been told to anticipate 2-3 weeks, you make some concessions!

I will keep trying to add pictures to this blog, but it is very slow loading pictures, so I have not had much success. I wish you could see my road the way I saw it Wednesday morning! For any who have been out here to Drasco, try to visualize 31 trees (at least as big as my thighs) across my road. I didn't even count branches and trees smaller than my legs. Many were bigger around than I am. All of them, every branch, every needle, every dead leaf covered in clear glass an inch thick!! Until they become so heavy they arch over into the road, or snap off midway up, or just simple fall over from the roots. It is one of the most spectacular sights you will see, to watch the sunlight shine thru a million glass orbs! It lights the world up like a gigantic (deadly) Christmas tree.

We finally got our power poles replaced, and lines connected and active on Saturday afternoon, nearly an exact 4 days after losing power.

This is starting to get long, but I would like to make one point: Preparation saves a lot of stress, and possibly lives. Some in our community were in a panic because they were losing everything in their freezers. ( it was 20-24 degrees each of the nights last week, and daytime highs thru Thursday were in the low 40's. let mother nature freeze it.) Others were stressing about paying hundreds of dollars to have trees cut away from driveways ( Don't you have a chainsaw?, you're my age!? I would do it for half that if you asked me, maybe even for free if your need was dire) Many were left in the dark when stores started running out of batteries and candles, waiting for new shipments which could be days away. But most importantly, people didn't know how to eat. What to cook without the microwave. Our little corner store was making dozens and dozens of pizzas every night for locals who didn't have food figured out.

If we had to rely on ourselves for more than a few days, how desparate would the situation be? In a major disaster, we can't rely on the government. We can't rely on immediate response even from our well meaning and overworked emergency service personnel. We can't even rely on the corner store pizza ovens. We may be isolated for 3-5 days in a major disaster.

Would you make it??