January 12, 2007 was a pretty good day. It was a Friday and I had my left wrist in a cast because I had slipped on some black ice in mid December and fractured it. Other than that things were going smoothly. As smoothly as things go when you have six dogs and eight puppies in the house.
In the afternoon it started to rain but the pups were doing well with their house training, so after dinner I took them all outside for a post dinner scramble in the yard. We didn't stay long because it was still raining and the temperature was dropping. Still I wanted them to have the chance to get outside.
At 6:20, just as we were coming inside, the electricity went out. The rain continued and the temperature continued to drop. Ice started covering everything.
The power stayed out for 12 days.
Have you ever tried living with a no electricity, no heat, no hot water, no cell phone or computer, or television, with fourteen dogs, six birds and a broken wrist for 12 days?
We were actually the lucky ones because we had a gas stove in the basement, so we were able to stay in the house and keep the pups and birds warm. Most of our neighbors left to stay with family or friends.
24 hours a day it sounded like a war zone as the trees cracked and came crashing to the ground. The big dogs were only allowed out for seconds at a time and the pups couldn't go out at all because of the possible danger of trees falling on them.
This is our neighborhood.
This is the house across the street.
This is our house and yard.
The pups wanted to run and play, so for several hours a day we allowed them free run of the kitchen. I felt like I was on constant mop duty.
Then just when I thought I wouldn't survive another day, the power came back on and the cleanup began.
Today is the tenth anniversary of that awful experience. Yesterday it was 70 degrees here. Today the forecast is for ice!!!
6 comments:
Mom says she cannot even imagine what you had to deal with. She would have been one of your neighbors very comfy in a nice hotel somewhere that had heat and comforts:) We keep hearing the ICE word here too but no one seems to be able to give this forecast the tiniest bit of defintiveness! Guess time will tell. Stay safe and warm.
Woos - Lightning and Misty
Yikes ice and more ice. Do you hear it crackling
Lily & Edward
That is a crazy long time to not have power and water. Our longest in the winter was 3 days (5 in the summer).
We had ice overnight. Both Mark's high school and Ryan's college cancelled classes. It's now 42, and we're waiting for the rain to finish the cleanup where PENNDOT didn't do a perfect job.
We can't imagine being without power for 12 days in the freezing cold temps with destruction falling all around us. This is superscary stuff!
Has it become one of those things you can laugh at later yet? Sheesh. We're looking for 107°F today.
Post a Comment