Almost three days. That’s how long I was without power this weekend.
I was kicking around titles for this post such as “Dude, where’s my power?”, “Can you smell me yet?!,” “Bigfoot’s going to start putting some moves on me if I can’t shave my legs soon!”, “Five, six, pick up sticks….” or “The redhead goes Amish for the weekend.”
You’ve probably heard about this by now, but Ohio was walloped with a “derecho” series of storms on Friday afternoon. Pretty much the entire southeastern portion of the state where I live has been in the dark since then. There are trees everywhere. Roofs were ripped off of buildings. Pieces of other people’s houses were on our yard. Our power was finally restored Sunday night around 9 p.m. or so. I was starting to panic when I heard on the radio Saturday that we’d might be lucky if we had electricity by Thursday. Thank God that wasn’t the case.
We weren’t home when the storm hit and were actually several miles south visiting friends when it passed. It’s a good thing we took Sax Guy’s truck on the trip because we had to go off road at times to dodge trees to make it home. There were trees on the road, trees on houses, trees tangled in lines. When we did make it home, our yard was covered in limbs and debris. Thank the Lord, because the only damage our property had were all the down limbs. Our neighbors had a few trees down, but no major damage to houses. The garden and The Ladies are fine.
Needless to say, Sax Guy and I roughed it all weekend. No store in the entire county had power Saturday morning, so we had to drive 26 miles to a county north where we used to live to stock up and some more water and ice for the fridge and deep freezer. Oh, and the most important thing – instant coffee. And baby wipes for a “shower.” And the largest breakfast we could buy at Denny’s.
Here’s the worst problem about losing electric in the country – no water. We have a well, not a municipal water source, so no power = no water because we need power for the water pump. I can handle not having a shower for a few days, and thank Goodness I did some laundry and the dishes on Thursday, but we couldn’t flush the toilet. I don’t think I need to go into details about that. Normally when I know a big storm is coming, I’ll fill up a few containers with water just in case. The forecast only called for a 20 percent chance of rain Friday, so I didn’t think anything of it. Luckily, while we were cleaning up the yard it started to rain so I was able to full up some mop buckets with rain water for a force flush.
Just keepin’ it real, y’all.
So we lived with my oil lamp and two camp lanterns for light, a camp stove and grill for cooking, and my car charger to keep my cell phone battery charged. Of course, Murphy’s law would have it that the power would be out in the middle of a crazy heat wave (upper 90s F), so I rose early in the morning to open the windows to cool the house down and shut them during the hottest part of the day. We were able to borrow a generator and had it running Sunday to save the food in the fridge and freezer. I think the only food I’ve lost is a gallon of milk, half and half, shredded cheese and ranch salad dressing. I consider myself to be very lucky.
Despite all this craziness, it really wasn’t all that bad. We didn’t go through TV withdrawl because we haven’t had cable for years, although there were times I missed the Internet when I had a question that needed answered. I got some knitting projects finished, I took naps, and just had a chance to relax. We even played an outdoor concert Sunday evening, which was cut short by more rain. The worst thing for me was the fact that I couldn’t use soap and water to wash my hands and had to use wipes. That drove me nuts. But after this weekend, I’ve learned to appreciate a cold glass of water, the generosity of family, and the fact that I know how to cook outdoors. I can make some pretty darn good French toast with canned milk and eggs fresh from the coop on a camp stove!
