windstorm

Well, here we are. The fire is going. The snow has stopped snowing. The electricity is humming along after a 3 day outage. I heard a snow plow on my street earlier. And I heard a neighbour’s snowplower start up awhile ago too. Lucky me nipped into town for groceries yesterday when it was sunny.

Rosalee and I have had our ups and downs this year. My are pretty standard: family, money, home maintenance, keeping warm, keeping healthy, being there for Rosalee… The threat of Covid hangs over us all out here. Dependence on electricity, internet, and driving is our way of life. When a big windstorm comes along, it is scary,

Rosalee woke me at dawn. She was unsettled. I thought I heard someone on the porch. Someone opening the door. I called out. I got up. The screen door was wide open. The shovel I keep by the door had blown down the steps. The heat was off. Brrrr!!

What to do first? I pulled the screen door shut tightly. Then checked the phone for Hydro messages.

I got dressed and got the fire going. I had heard branches falling on the roof. I went outside. What a wind! I staggered around the yard picking up blowable things, tucking them into sheds. I took down the clothes line. The support had blown over and the line was at eye level. Not safe. I walked all around the yard, then went out on the street for a better view of the roof. No visible damage. Only small branches seemed to have fallen. A few birds were calling from the shelter of trees. They sounded afraid.

Later I went out walking. No people outside! A group of turkeys trotting down a back lane was the only sign of animal life. A gust of wind made me stagger once but I kept my balance. My favourite tree, a very old fir which some people want cut down, was standing tall, looking very strong and safe.

I ate sandwiches for lunch, moved food out of the fridge into buckets and put them outside. I put a bit wet towel on top of the freezer. By then Hydro was predicting a few days before the lines could be cleared.

The winds stopped about 3 p.m. Had I been energetic, I could have made a little snow house for the frozen food (all fruit plus a few loaves of bread). But I didn’t. I figured my electronic gadgets would last three days before I had to start the van to charge them. I hunkered down.

My candles and flashlight were ready. I cooked a bit on the stove even. Something I once did a lot.

After three days the power was back. The frozen fruit had melted. I am going to chuck it all out,. Garbage or compost, not sure. It is frozen again now. No need to decide right away,

I think the most amazing thing of all this was that I went out in the garden and was able to pick some cabbage and kale leaves. Usually in January the garden is under several feet of snow. Not this year.