Here in the KintlaLake household, we must be living right -- electric power returned overnight.
To put our good fortune into perspective, American Electric Power reports that 71% of our neighbors are still doing without, and the utility is sticking with its projection that some customers may not be restored for a week. Crews that had been dispatched to help residents of Texas and Louisiana recover from Hurricane Ike are being recalled to Ohio.
The large housing development behind us remains dark and, save the sound of a chain saw and a few generators, quiet. During her 17-mile commute, my wife told of navigating an obstacle course of dead traffic lights and downed trees, including one in front of her office, which remains without power.Our spawns, by the way, are still in bed -- their schools, like virtually all districts in the area, are closed today.
Relatively speaking, our humble hilltop home weathered the windstorm well. Along with the fallen pear I mentioned yesterday, we lost the top of a yellow poplar tree and our lawn is littered with leaves and small branches. Some of the more willowy plants in our garden took quite a beating. Just one shingle was ripped from our roof and a few others were damaged. Four hours of unrelenting wind also managed to push our garden shed off its blocks.That's it -- charmed, indeed.
When our power winked out yesterday afternoon, we didn't know, of course, how long the minor inconvenience would last. It ended up being a simple flashlights-and-candles affair, with a battery-operated radio keeping us apprised of the situation around us. It was easy to remember not to open the freezer, somewhat more difficult remembering not to flush the toilets (as our younger spawn discovered). We used less than a gallon of our of water stores, mostly for washing.
Easy.
However brief, it was a useful exercise. Now the cleanup begins.
