7 Days

T

This is said to be a lucky number. And I suppose it is for us today. Hurricane Irene hit in the wee hours of last Sunday morning. And with it came damaging ( this is really understating it) winds and lots of rain. So in these wee hours of last sunday morning, our power was knocked out. And 7 days later it has been restored. Yes folks it has taken 7 whole days for us to regain power. I will never again take electricity and running water for granted. We have been living in our house all week with no electricity or running water. Thank heavens for rain barrels. They have allowed us to carry buckets full of water inside the house to flush toilets. Our preparations ahead of time gave us a tub full of water to use for washing. Ice bags in the freezer saved our meat for 4 days when we moved it to a friends house. We lost everything in our fridge. Have been cooking on the grill. 100% of our town lost power. 140 roads in our town alone were affected. You couldn't drive down a road without a downed tree or power line. Our road was blocked at one end due to a tree on a power line. We didn't even know if we could get off our road for a couple of days. Irene was actually downgraded to a tropical storm before it hit CT. And I tell you I feel for those that have have been through full blown hurricanes. I really hope you never have to experience this. And I hope I never do again. There is really only so much preparation that can be done. And then it happens. And you deal with the aftermath. And it was so surreal. Here we are living in the stone age while some parts of the state never lost power. And they were not that many miles away. Maybe less than 20. So I am thankful tonight to not have to brush my teeth by flashlight with a cup of cold tub water. And I will sleep well after a nice hot shower and clean sheets. And wake up to a cup of real ( not instant) coffee that I have to walk outside to the grill to make.