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Four days ago I was sitting in my living room, having a glass of wine with my wife. Next thing I know, everything goes black and three big BOOMS sound off across our neighborhood. I speculated at the time that these loud noises were the result of a few transformers blowing, due to falling branches. I later found out that this theory was sound, but that is really not the important thing to focus on here. Why were the branches falling? is a bit more appropriate…
ICE STORM!!!
I’m not sure if we made the National news since we haven’t had any television until now, but New England was pounded by freezing rain and ice on Thursday afternoon, lasting all the way until Friday morning. The aftermath of this devastating storm follows in the pictures below, but before we get to that I would like to tell the tale of my family’s survival over the last four days. You probably already sense what I’m getting at here: we had no electricity the whole time… I would honestly say that literally hundreds, if not thousands of power lines went down due to branches snapping from the extra weight of the ice coating them. So what does that mean for a household heated by a combination of oil and electricity (neither of which can function to heat the house without the other)? We were screwed.
Friday morning I woke the kids and my wife, and after surveying the yard around my house and most of the neighborhood I concluded that the power would not be coming back any time soon (this is evidenced by the conditions depicted pictures that follow). My first thought was to check in to a hotel, but I would later discover that nearly all of Southern Maine was in black-out mode… so if we didn’t have heat or electricity, neither did the hotels. Luckily, I received a call from my sister, who had a wood stove. Even more fortuitous: this wood stove sat in an enclosed room that was easy to keep warm with just the stove’s heat alone. Problem solved.
For two days we stayed in that room, leaving only to make trips to check out where power was being restored and to get Dunkin’ Donuts coffee… okay, and to get more wood for the fire. We adults played board games and drank a lot of alcohol (and by we I really mean me), while the kids kept themselves occupied with their Nintendo DS’s and the game Animal Crossing: Wild World. Each night we burned candles for light while we entertained ourselves with Parcheesi and conversation. Both nights I stayed up until 4 or 5 in the morning, keeping the fire adequately stoked so that my family stayed warm before going to bed and getting some rest for myself. Things were going pretty smooth… until the batteries died in the kids’ DS’s. As soon as the last shred of electronic entertainment came to a slowly dimming demise the kids just turned on each other. I can’t help but laugh at it now, but at the time Dina and I were very annoyed. “He just hit me with this,” and “She just shoved that in my ear,” got old very quickly. Still, despite our brief Cabin Fever issues, my family endured.
Fortunately by Sunday power was restored to the various hotels in Ogunquit, Maine, and we were able to check in to the Meadowmere Resort for our remaining hours of homelessness. There, we were all able to shower and enjoy warm beds without having to breathe smoke all day and night (not that I’m complaining… we were surviving). The kids were able to charge their DS’s (and thankfully shut the $%^& up), and even Dina and I took a little time to play some Animal Crossing.
The next day we came home to check on the power situation… still no electricity. I took Dina to work, and then took the kids to breakfast at a local breakfast joint called Norma’s, where we had a good meal, then returned home… to find that the power had been restored! I cranked the heat, turned on every light in the house (BECAUSE I COULD, DAMN IT), and cleaned up the mess we had left behind in our scrambling to escape the cold on Friday morning. That leads me to this point. I am happy to be sitting at my computer in a fully heated and illuminated house sharing this with you all. After four days of being forced to go without the simple pleasures in life, I can honestly say that I will never take what I have for granted again… or at least not take it for granted for the next two days… five hours… Christ, I’ve already forgotten what it’s like to go without.
I would like to thank my Sister, Erin, for taking us into her home and giving us a means to survive. I love you, Sis… can’t wait to meet little Cecilia Virginia Sullivan (when you “get your baby out.”)
I would also like to thank the Management of the Meadowmere for being so supportive of displaced locals such as myself and my family. With such generosity as heavily discounted rates and extended stays beyond usual check-out time, you truly are a stand-up establishment. The town of Ogunquit owes you many thanks, and so do I.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Okay… on to the pictures!
The tree outside the window where I do my writing
Our frozen cherry tree
A scene from my back driveway… everything is covered in a layer of ice
A close up of one of the bushes in my yard… look at that coating of ice… let’s see how many times I say “ice” before this post is completed
Kiss that power line feeding one of our apartments with power goodbye!
Just how crazy things were… the whole neighborhood was covered… who am I kidding, the entire NORTHEAST was covered… in ice
Beautiful dog posing in front of our rose bush
One of many fallen trees, snapped in half by the weight of the ice covering them
Fallen branches at the entrance to Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine (google it)
Devastation on my Sister’s road…
More devastation on my Sister’s road…
Local firefighters and policemen had their work cut out for them this weekend
Surviving at my Sister’s house. From left: Taran, Cedric, Erin.
Some of us dealt with the situation over the last four days better than others
Shameless inclusion of a self-portrait (this is my blog after all)… look at how scruffy and dirty I am
Cat, abandoned and presumed dead, is happy that we are home
I’m sure that more pictures will end up on this blog by tomorrow, but for now that is it. Time to sit back and enjoy my television. Forgive any typos, I just want to throw this post up now and edit later.
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