The Power Goes Out

Saturday, Oct 29th:  Evening

After we lost power, we finished dinner, put dishes in the dishwasher.  The snow was piling up much more quickly and heavier than originally predicted.  Around 9 PM, we could hear what ended up being branches snapping and crashing to the ground. As we looked out into the darkness it was only the shadows on the white snow that gave us an idea of what had fallen.  You would hear the cracking and a softer crash indicated it was further away.  One of the loudest occurred was when the wires were torn off the house.  I could see the shadow outside the office window and when we shone the flashlight out the window, we certainly could see the wires on the ground.  In my naivete at that time, I called National Grid to report it.  That was about 10 PM.  We then went to bed to try to get some sleep.  However, I have to say it was one of the scariest nights I ever experienced.  You would lie in bed and hear the cracking and just pray that nothing fell on the roof of the house.  As we were lying in bed, another very loud crash shook the house and we could see a large tree across the back yard and were quite sure it took out our shed behind the garage.  Somehow that evening we slept.  Waking in the morning light showed the extent of the damage.

Sunday, Oct 30th:  Early Morning

As we awoke, the damage was devastating...  Tree and large branches were all over the ground.  A second branch took down another portion of wires to our house.  Yes, the shed was crushed.  It appeared the house and garage survived unscathed.  Looking across to our neighbors, it didn't look so bad...a few branches down but his wires to his house were still intact.  Ed and I then ventured outside.  Ed moved some of the branches blocking the driveway while I ventured down the street.  That is when the full extent of the damage really sank in.  There were wires down across our street, many houses with wires torn off the house, tree limbs in the street and some still hanging perilously in the power lines.  The road was unpassable not only due to the damage, but due to the snow.  The total snowfall was closer to 18" than 6".  As I walked towards Route 9, the damage clearly extended well beyond our little, dead-end street.  Route 9 (which is a state highway) was not yet plowed and there were abandoned cars in the road and trees and branches down that only allowed a small, single lane to get through.  Wires were down on Route 9 as well.  It was clear this was huge.  The words used by several people to describe what we saw was "war zone" and that pretty much summed it up.

Back yard Sunday morning...This picture is pretty with the snow and blue sky totally opposite of the evening before.

Front yard showing the wires pulled down.

 

Back yard with a fallen tree.

Route 9 looking east.

Snow is Predicted

Today they are predicting some snow for the region.  It's way too early for snow, but they are quite sure it will hit us.  Snowfall totals for our area were at first 1-3", then upped to 2-4".  Ed and I went out to do our weekly grocery shopping, but got to the stores early since people were freaking out.  We weren't freaking out (yet) and reports were that power outages would be likely due to the fact that leaves were still on the trees and the weight of the snow would likely cause a power outage.

So after getting groceries we headed home to cleanup the yard.  We put away all the yard decorations and lawn furniture that had been out for the summer.  Although we usually don't do this until November, it needed to be done, so better to do so before we got a couple inches of snow.

I was also super productive and got the house cleaned, laundry done, and dishwasher run...just in case we lost power.  Last time we lost it for 12 hrs, so this way I didn't have to worry about what I wasn't going to get done on Sunday if we did lose power.  Ed also filled a couple containers with water so that we had some drinking water and water to flush the toilets as needed.

We were scheduled to go to Hardwick for a surprise birthday dinner for Ed's mother.  Ed was worried about driving back through the Quabbin, at night, with several inches of snow on the ground.  He called his sister Mary and said that we were just going to watch the weather.  Mary was also worried about Billy and Courtney driving from Brimfield as well.

By 2 PM, the snow had started--several hours earlier than originally predicted.  Within 10 mins, we had a good coating.  By this time, they had also upped the snowfall total to about 6".  So we decided we were not driving to Hardwick...it wasn't the drive out that we were worried about, but more so what we might encounter later in the evening while trying to drive home.

At 6:50 PM, while eating dinner, the power went out...

Columbus Day Weekend

Columbus Day weekend was absolutely gorgeous.  In fact, it was a bit freakishly warm with temperatures in the 80s.  We would have liked to go away for the weekend, but unfortunately I was sick with some type of flu-like symptoms, so we stayed home and did a couple things around home.  If I was feeling better, I would have spent a lot more time outside, but we found a balance between getting out and about and me being able to stay home and rest.

Saturday we ventured over to the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton. Some very cool stuff, but VERY expensive! Most things were in the hundreds of dollars and some were in the thousands. We did buy one thing (as a Christmas gift) but it was under $50 which was a rare thing to find. Part of the fun, though, was checking out the prices. A beautiful jacket for $800; a necklace for $4500... Really?? It was entertainment for sure!

On Monday we headed up to the Hardwick Winery and did their wine tasting and bought some wine.

On the way home, we stopped at the Quabbin Reservoir. It was a beautiful day so we spent time walking around the Quabbin and enjoying the views.  We even ran into a few people we knew!  I forgot what a great place this is to visit.

All and all a nice weekend!

October

My birthday was two days ago (Sept 30th) and lucky me has Dan home this weekend! He came home to play golf with Ed today (not because it was my birthday...but what a treat for me either way!). The golf tournament was originally scheduled for August but was postponed due to Hurricane Irene. So while the boys are out playing golf in the rain, I am doing laundry and putzing around the house. I just got done baking some apple crisp--one pan for us to enjoy tonight and then a smaller pan for Dan to take back with him tomorrow morning! It's a cool, rainy day and the house is now filled with the wonderful aroma of baked apples...yum!


On Thursday, 9/29, Ed and I took the day off of work and went to the Big E. Not the best weather...a bit rainy, but last year was a downpour and we didn't end up going, so we were determined to go this year. Walked all around through the State buildings and the Better Living Center...bought some gifts for Christmas and after checking out all the food selections, Ed ended getting a steak sandwich and then some Quahogs from the RI building. My only indulgence was a Maine baked potato...with the works, of course!


We then went to Carabba's for dinner on the way home and had a very relaxing, delicious dinner.

I couldn't ask for a better birthday celebration. Going to the Big E (which I love), having dinner with Ed (which is always nice), and having Dan home for the weekend (couldn't get better)! Life is good...

Nothing is better than having the family home together. I love them both!! Life is good...