the perfect storm of hype

Maybe you forgot about Irene already.
Irene?  Who's Irene?

I know, that is SUCH a weird video.

You know, the storm of "hype"?  The one that blasted up the East coast and plunged us into the 19th century?

In the days preceding the storm, our news ran warnings 24/7, complete with scary Jaws-like soundtrack to accompany the equally menacing "HURRICANE IRENE" title that filled the screen after every commercial break.  Really, I think Long Island News 12 is to blame for my apprehension.  We didn't go crazy with preparations; I bought bottled water and batteries (from a very depleted stock at our grocery store) and some non-perishables.  We anticipated our power would go out, and just in case a tree fell on the house, we slept in the living room.

And we had an emergency pack, just in case.  

We were with the baby when the power went off around 4:30 Sunday morning.  Sunday, the height of the storm, passed uneventfully as we played Scrabble and ate the ice cream from our freezer.  Thankfully no large trees fell around our house, just branches, and our basement hardly leaked.  We did lose our storm door.

That evening we drove around our area.  So MANY trees and branches down, often delicately balanced on power lines.  The roads were often blocked by fallen trees.  We spotted this house a couple miles from where we live . . . 

We made the rounds on a few of our friends and were invited for dinner by Evie and Jon, who live one town over and managed to keep their power and cable.  Before we knew it, three other families from our small group ended up there as well.  Evie fed us all!  A hurricane party.  

The 'powerless' ate there Monday night as well and took showers. . . it was so sweet of them to have so many of us poor souls over to give us a hot meal.  

Our house runs on well water, so when our power went out, the water did as well.  We managed for a day on what was stored in the pipes.  After that went, we hung on for a couple more days using water we'd stored in pots, pitchers, and the bathtub.  The weather was gorgeous, so we sat outside all day.

 Bo by headlamp.

By Tuesday, I emptied the fridge and freezer, we were out of water, and I was out of patience with the dark evenings.  We stayed at the house of the people I nanny for, since they were out of town.  They had power and had shared their house key with friends for showering.  We waited for them to come shower in the morning, but their power had come on in the night.  I hoped that ours had come on, too . . . but it hadn't.  Wednesday we stayed with our friends Jeff and Amy.  Their neighbor across the street had lost a tree that completely blocked the road.  

Thursday evening as we settled in for another night at their place, we got word that our power was back on.  

LOVED seeing those lights.  Did NOT love the aftermath of a water system that has sat dormant for five days . . . but by midnight Matt had flushed all of the pipes and we had water again, even if it wasn't flowing exactly clear.  After five days, we were back up and running in our own home.

Now honestly, I was not a fan of the situation.  It was very hard to be constantly on the move, especially with a baby and a dog.  BUT . . . In looking for the positives, there were many.  We saw the Body of Christ in action, people extending their homes, sharing food, inviting others in without a second thought.  It was sweet to gather together and talk and laugh and share stories.  I'm so thankful for the friends we've made on Long Island.  Matt was able to be home a lot that week because the power was out at offices he was to visit, and his attending was gracious.  We read, talked, Matt studied, and we enjoyed being outside and away from the technology that so often occupies us.  School was postponed two days and all of the kids on our street were out on their bikes.  We talked with our neighbors every day, as opposed to the weeks we can go without seeing them.  We reflected on our friends who serve in parts of the world with spotty electricity, or none at all, and those who have never had the luxury of running water or light at the other end of the switch.  Our home was standing in tact, our possessions and family safe.  

That was (the abbreviated version of) our experience with the storm.