Auntie Em, Auntie Em!

[fufaraw]

Lost power around noon yesterday--all up and down the I-5 corridor from Everett to Blaine. Not one sweep, it was dozens--scores--of downed trees and power lines. Ours was a tree down on the power line and three blown transformers (no mistaking that sound) one street over. They routed traffic down our tiny lane-and-a-half street the rest of the day, evening, and into the night.

After getting out the camping stove and multiple battery-powered lanterns, picking up the major debris from the blown-over baker's rack and plant stand on the porch--the mended Buddha wasn't dented, in fact, he dented the deck board where his head landed--the glass insert for one of the candleholders broke, the rest, along with the loose-laid ceramic tiles, were fine. The impatiens stand blew off the porch and landed on the steps, the glazed flowerpot shattered, but the plant is fine and will be repotted. We had to take down the butterfly house flag--the hem is reduced to tatters and will need to be replaced.

We helped next-door stand up their knocked-over plant pots--one holding a tomato plant was broken irreparably, but the rest were recoverable, and OH borrowed a ladder from a second neighbor to reattach the downspout for another neighbor, before donning his OMG SO BRIGHT reflective jacket and directing traffic for about four hours.

I could probably adjust to a cabin in the woods with kerosene lamps and hand-pumped water and wood-burning cookstoves and heat, but I reeeeeally like phone, internet, and power. Which came back on around 5AM. HIIIIIII!!!! I MISSED YOU!!!!!

Comments

[meus_venator]

EEK! You're lucky none of those trees clunked down on you. And yeah for Buddha's hard headedness. : P
Welcome back. I guess I wasn't imagining that tremor in the web, it must have been you coming back online. All is right with the world now.

[fufaraw]

HIIIIIII!!!! (I feel like Stitch!) I missed you! I mean, the whole internet, man, was just gone. The light in the refrigerator was off! I mean, that's just *wrong*, right? You know shit ain't right when the fridge light is out!

About 2PM yesterday when the wind and rain were still shaking the house and traffic was booking up and down the street, I just wanted to go hide *under* the house. No internet for comfort, either.

Sigh. My life, so hard. *g*

[stir-of-echoes.livejournal.com]

Yikes! *holds you close* and yay! for being so helpful too! ♥

[fufaraw]

The next door neighbor is yelling at OH now, "Get down off yer roof! You're gonna fall and break your other arm!" But he's up there with a broom. He spent ALL DAY before the storm cleaning out the gutters--good thing, too, since the blow filled them all up again!

I should have taken note of his mom--she's a hummingbird, even now at an advanced age. She never perches for more than a few minutes before she's off again changing beds, hanging or folding laundry, scrubbing floors, making pirogi from scratch. His dad was no slouch, either.

Me? I'm pretty much a slug, by comparison. *g*

Thanks for the good wishes. Hope you're doing well?

[epiphyta]

HIIIIII!!! *gloms*

The wind here was so enthusiastic that it set off the earthquake sensors, and all the elevators went to the lobby and stayed there: DS was using language that would have made your H. cluck disapprovingly. The Safeway near us lost power; we flickered a few times and the UPSs made a lot of noise. All of this made trying to deep clean the office a PITA: all three cats wanted to hide in the carrier in the closet, and the Evil Suckmonster needed to be deployed.

Still, this is better than conditions out on the island: there's still downed lines all over, and I told P. that I've added a hand-crank radio and another couple of LED lanterns to the moving wish list.

[fufaraw]

Hey! Glad there weren't any more dire repercussions for you guys! And poor cats--they know disaster when they feel it, and 'splaining the facts just does no good.

Don't forget a gas-powered baby generator to add to that list. Our (other) neighbors were watching tv last night, their little generator purring away. It's reassuring, if you happen to need it.

[epiphyta]

Oh, gah, P. has plans -- he'd like us to eventually buy one of the freestanding houses, as they've all got solar panels, and then get a couple of electrician friends to help install a Powerwall. He scoffed a little at the hand crank, until I pointed out that his ham radio gear was very useful until the batteries in the mobile unit ran down, and as it's not a standard battery . . . .

Yes, a baby Briggs and Stratton is on the list! Along with a camp stove, a Big Berkey filter, a Wonderbag . . . and a storm jar, because I like candles -- but I also have stupid cats and so the LED lanterns will doubtless see more use.

[casey28.livejournal.com]

We lost power for 7 hours. It's a good thing I brought in my baby sunflower plant, I'm sure the wind would've blown it away.

[fufaraw]

I gots two words for you in Cali--earth.quake. The ground is *not* supposed to dance!