The Nor’easter Of October

Saturday, I lost power around 4:00 o’clock; at least I knew where the oil lamps, propane lantern and stove were, so now I’m reading by gas light. What I don’t like is the sound of a fairly large tree coming down in my backyard, I know it was a large tree because of the sound of the crack and thud. In the silence of the night, you could the crack, whoosh and then the dull thud as a limb hit the ground. The delay between the crack and thud, I listened to hear if it hit the roof. When I woke up this morning the house was at 53 degrees… brrrr. I have a water bed and a half a ton of water takes a long time to cool down, so the bed was warm and comfy. But on the flip side once the power comes back on, it will take a long time to heat up.

I bought some of those artificial logs that I was planning on burning during the snow storm while I read. However, at the time I didn’t know that it would be my source of heat. I’m going to have to go out in the backyard and split some wood for tonight. Last night I used the fireplace in the living room, but tonight I’ll go down in the basement and use the woodstove. It is a small area to heat and the woodstove is more efficient than the fireplace.

Here are some photos that I took...

This probably the big crash that I heard. The limb is from my neighbor’s big oak tree.

These are photos of my back yard…

This one really hurts; it is my lilac tree that I love. In the spring the fragrance drifts into my bedroom window (you can just see the bottom of my bedroom window in the upper right).

This is my Japanese cherry tree…

Finally, the sun came out Sunday afternoon.

Sunday 11:00am: I just drove down to Home Depot to buy more of those stackable artificial logs, unfortunately they were sold out and they just sold their last skid of firewood, so I bought two boxes of regular artificial logs. Hopefully, they will work just as good as the stackable artificial logs. The roads were a nightmare to navigate; there were branches and tree down all over the place, on the main road behind my house the wires were down in five places in one block.

Sunday 7:30pm: I went down to McDonald’s for dinner and the place was mobbed, the line for the drive-thru was backed up down the street. I was able to charge my phone and laptop while I ate. There are so many blocked roads and traffic lights without power. Connecticut law says that when the traffic lights are out, you have to stop at the intersection and treat it like a four way stop. I saw so many drives that blasted through intersection and narrowly miss hitting another that I avoided the turnpike because it was an accident waiting to happen.

When I went out to dinner, the tree crews were working on the main road behind my house… Yay!

Monday 8:00am: I woke up in the basement where I am living, the temperature was 59 degrees and when I went upstairs it was a balmy 49 degrees. I kept on waking up during the night when I was cold and I threw another artificial log in the woodstove. Today’s agenda… getting more artificial logs, bird seed, do the dishes (no hot water so once it warms up outside, I’ll heat some water on the gas grill.), see if I can get motivated to split some firewood (it is old wood and partially rotted) and finding a wifi hot spot. What I miss most is a hot shower. Now to cook breakfast on my little one burner backpack stove.

Monday 12:30: I found a wifi hot spot, the town library. So once I finish typing this, I will post it on line.

Driving what a ZOO! On the turnpike there are long line at gas stations that are blocking traffic, while a couple of blocks away there are two gas stations with no lines at all. Most of the drivers are stopping at traffic lights without power, but then you get these idiots who just fly through the intersection. On the turnpike they blocked off left turn lanes, but that doesn’t stop some people from squeezing through the barricades. Trying to go from one part of town is a nightmare; many of the roads are blocked by downed tree; however, you don’t find out until you drive a mile down the road and then you have to turn around and backtrack.

Now the good news. There is utility crew working on the main road behind my house. Yea!