2012 has been different. We've had beautiful clear days with very little rain. And the temperatures have been brisk...40 during the day and getting down to the 20s at night. When the radar showed big precipitation coming our way with no change in temperature, we prepared for a good snow storm. We got that snow - 8" for us (which is significant here). And then the snow turned to freezing rain. Add an inch of ice to everything. Our heavy snow with the ice on top sent trees and branches crashing. Our power - along with 250,000 other people's - went out...for days. In the country where we live, no power also means no water. Our well won't pump without water. Fortunately, my hubby filled the tub before the power went down so we could still flush the toilet. But even a tub full of water doesn't last when you are without power for three days. At first, our powerless adventure was fun. We played games and did crafts. We used our electronics until the batteries died. The girls played in their rooms while I thumbed through a magazine. We went outside for a little bit but once the freezing rain hit, that made it miserable to be in. After the freezing rain stopped, the snow was so hard you couldn't play in it if you wanted to. And then the cabin fever started to set in. The roads stunk so we couldn't go anywhere the first couple of days. Once they cleared, our unshowered appearance made us not want to go anywhere!
Thankfully, on day 2 we borrowed a friend's generator for a couple of hours. We set it up to power our big freezer so we didn't loose any meat. And then we added the TV and the DVD player so we could watch a movie. It was odd how good that small comfort made us feel. While we were setting up the generator, we found out hub's uncle had power and a generator he wasn't using. We snatched that sucker up as fast as we could and settled in for the night. We had a lamp and movies but still no water or shower.
On day 3, we finally said ENOUGH and went out to breakfast with all the other unshowered people. It was nice to see I wasn't the only one with bad hair. We strolled leisurely through Home Depot, pricing generators (which of course were sold out) and picking up a few things for our emergency kit. We read stories of friends without power and heat via Facebook on our cell phones. And we realized just how spoiled we all have been with our mild weather.
When we got home, I went full redneck on the family. I had hubs heat some water on the BBQ and we washed our hair in a bucket in the front yard. I couldn't stand it anymore. I'm sure the neighbors got a good chuckle and we all got clean hair so I don't care. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
As we were tucking the girls into bed that night, I saw the neighbors porch light out my big girl's window. We have never been so excited. And even though we were going to bed and wouldn't be using any power for the rest of the evening, it was comforting just to know it was back.
We had survived Snowpocalypse 2012. By mid-week, everyone had power again and the storm clean up began. We lost several branches off our 50-foot pine tree...it looks like a giant Charlie Brown Christmas tree but that was it. Winter may only last a week or two around here but when it comes, it's a doozy!
