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.
Remember back when Christmas commercials were actually pretty creative? Neither do I, but that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes when I reflect on Christmases past, I’m joined by old television spots like the following that leave me feeling fuzzy inside. It’s pathetic, I know. Still, isn’t it funny how the most insignificant things stir up some great emotions in you during the holidays?
I’m planning to scour youtube to find more Christmas commercials to put up here. It will be a great — and pathetic, don’t forget pathetic — way for me to spend my Christmas break from school. (oh, and by the way… ALL A’s BABY!)
^^ The biggest turkey you’ll find in the Yorke household ^^
Another Thanksgiving, another what Earl is thankful for post. I suppose the first thing on my list would be that my family is healthy and happy. You really can’t ask for anything more, but the other perks in life are a welcome addition…
We are facing the final two months of one of the most disastrous presidencies in the history of this country, and have a new President-elect after an equally historical election. Here’s to Barack Obama and the amazing job that he will perform as the leader of the free world.
I am on the verge of finishing my fall semester at school with all A’s, thus maintaining my 4.0 GPA. You want to be me, but there can be… only one (I just made that up… no, I’ve never heard of a Highlander).
Last on my list: my sister is going to be a mother. I’M GOING TO BE AN UNCLE! Finally, I can spoil someone else’s child. I love you, Tia! Congratulations.
…yep, there’s a lot to be thankful for this year, and that is never a bad thing. With so many things to be appreciative of in my life I cannot deny that my family is blessed in some way… okay, this post just took a turn toward the LAME SIDE of Earl Yorke. I’ll just quit while I’m ahead.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! As always, I hope that you are all spending this day with your families and are reminded why we can only stand each other for this one day out of the year.
My renewed and enhanced ambition. That’s what I am thankful for.
It has become a tradition for me to put up a post on this blog every Thanksgiving that describes what I am thankful for each year. Any of you who regularly visit this page know this very well, and I enjoy reading about what you are thankful for in your comments. It’s funny how just a simple name of a holiday will prompt people to acknowledge that, even with all of the bullshit that might be plaguing their lives, there is atleast one good thing that they appreciate about their own existence. That’s why this is one of my favorite holidays… that and the fact that it is the one day of the year that I have every excuse to stuff my face with food.
Anyway, getting back to my ambition… what I am thankful for; I am going back to school this winter! In addition to that, I finally landed a job where I have some real responsibility. I am the new freight manager at a local Dollar Tree, which might not sound like much, but you guys have no idea how much people bust their asses in that place. I work 5AM to 1PM, five days a week now, and I’ll tell you that those eight hours each day go by so fast. I don’t have a single moment to sit and breathe. We are going out straight from the moment we get in there until the moment we leave. It’s nuts, but very rewarding since at the end of the day I can actually see what I’ve accomplished.
Moving on to the school thing. I’ll be going to the York County Community College, starting this January. I have already been accepted, and I go in next month to enroll for my classes. I’m thinking of balancing computer-related courses with some creative writing, but the latter will not be my main focus unfortunately. I have to think practical, and I have to acknowledge the possibility that my work may never get out there. It is more important that I focus on creating a good foundation for my family’s future. I’m not saying that I’m not going to focus all of my free time on my dream… it’s still very much alive! In fact, you can all look forward to some posts about Trea’Loong: Fann’s Ascent in the near future.
That’s all for now. As always, I hope that you are all relaxed on this day and enjoying the time — dysfunctional as it most likely is — with your families.
[EDIT] … I guess that I don’t have the following that I once had. The current time is 11:09 PM on Thursday, November 29th. Is anyone coming here anymore?
…I just wanted to touch upon something that I’m sure alot of you have noticed recently about this weblog. I’ve shifted things in the past few months to not only follow my writing, but to also follow my views and feelings on certain things that I feel are important… both to me, and to everything else. This has taken the form of a few new categories that I have added, and I would like to discuss the relevance of such categories here… now.
My Dreams… A Record
Perhaps the most important of such additions here. My dream journal is a means for me to share with my current and future friends and fans the things that go on in my head at night. While they might be a bit screwed up at times (see my next two posts after the one for Ryan), they are important for me to purge here so that you all will later understand where my inspiration comes from. This particular category also helps me to get things out of my head that I cannot place in my regular work; not yet, atleast.
Current Events
Steve Irwin’s death inspired this category. You see, sometimes things happen that shake me so forcefully that I have to write about them. Up until now I just talked with Dina and my family about such things, but I have found recently that nothing compares to the soothing powers of writing… not to me atleast.
George W. Bush’s address on September 11, 2006 was what set this category in stone for me. This is MY BLOG. My journal for the public. If I am to be successful to myself (and in general), I must let the world know what I think. I hope that someday, if I am published, my fans will look back on these writings and say, “Damn right, Earl!” Even if they don’t, they will atleast know where I came from… what I believe.
Completely Random and Pointless
One of my favorites! This category was born from one single post! A post that deserved no less than to have a category named after it. It’s funny when I think about it. It was so stupid, and yet it made me laugh more than I have in a long time. C’mon… two cats in an octagon match, reffed by none other than Joe Rogan?! He’s crazy…
While no posts since have been placed in that category, don’t think for a second that I won’t post more!!! I’m just waiting for the right things to fill it… to justify that category as that octagon match did. Hehehe.
Inspiration
This category has been here for quite some time, and I place this post there because of one simple truth: I find inspiration everywhere. I’ve been detached for quite some time, and this is because I was dealing with a part of my life that I let go of more than a year ago. I’ve gained weight because of it, and I thought that I had lost some of my obsessive qualities as well. Have any of you ever heard of Adderall? I was addicted to it when I started this blog, and for a long time after I gave it up I thought I would never write again. Well, that is my greatest inspiration of all; the fact that I let it go, and didn’t write for eight months afterward. But I came back without it, and do you know why? I have a dream, and it is not dictated by some drug. I am sharing this with all of you because I believe in myself. I am inspired… and I will go places one day… without a drug as a crutch.
There you have it. I have shed everything in one post…
Once again I am finding myself working at The Oarweed Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine. It is the same place that I was exactly one year ago. Though I was happy to leave that place with the promise of a “real job” and more money as a Loan Officer with Aegis Lending, I now find that there is freedom to be found there. Perhaps it was the unending stress and anxiety that I found at both Aegis Lending and the office I worked at just prior to coming to the Oarweed (I can’t say the name of it on this site or the paranoid owners of the place will sue me… seriously), but a part of me has really relaxed!
I’ve also been working at Dirigo Mortgage as a Loan Officer. I probably wouldn’t have gone to the Oarweed at all if it wasn’t strictly commision-based pay there. I need time to build up my pipeline (loans that I am working on closing) before I can make Dirigo my full-time job. So, for now, the Oarweed is paying the bills. It’s not so bad having to work two jobs and sacrifice some 65 hours of my time each week. I’ve been reunited with so many great friends by going back to that restaurant, and every time I punch in there I feel like I’m going to a party. It’s not work at all…
I suppose that until my schedule calms down a bit I will have to place my various writing projects on hold. The Dominance Flush screenplay is coming along very well, and I’ve been taking alot of notes concerning other ideas that have popped into my head. I’ve been having quite a few disturbing dreams lately, and many of my ideas have spawned from them. I am probably the only person on this planet who enjoys nightmares… thoroughly.
After weighing the consequences of the next idea that I have quite heavily, I am pleased to reveal that I intend to begin discussions of my dreams here in addition to my regular, goal-related entries. This is for anybody who cares to help me analyze them. I know that I can count on a few: Dina, Tina, Nage_Wannabe (no there will be no further Bloodlines excerpts), and perhaps my loving “Grandma.” I am not afraid of having my ideas stolen because I’ll not be sharing them here… only my dreams that the ideas are based on.
…I hope that you all have enjoyed this as much as I have…
My one true love is writing, but second to that comes music. Though I am unable to play any instrument other than the jug, I listen to music religiously. Owning over 200 compact discs I am never without music playing when alone or entertaining friends. Alternative is my favorite music genre. Unfortunately I am still awaiting the “return of rock.” Right now the music scene is dominated by fairy boy-bands like the Backstreet Boys and N’sync… I want to vomit. My favorite bands of all time are “The Dandy Warhols,” “Marilyn Manson,” “Letters to Cleo,” and “Dido.” These are four very different bands, yet they all help me in my life.
My ambitions are as follows:
*TO BECOME A PUBLISHED NOVELIST
*TO GRADUATE COLLEGE
The only two fears that I can think of that I have are:
*ARACHNOPHOBIA (FEAR OF SPIDERS)
*BUSOPHOBIA (FEAR OF LETTING OTHERS DRIVE YOUR CAR)
Though I have not necessarily discussed much with you in this letter, Earl, I feel that the topics that I did discuss were very important and the most worthy of your attention in ten years. See you then.
Sincerely,
Earl Yorke
Age 19
YHS Senior
Well… that’s it. Comment if you wish. I have let you all into my soul on this one… the letter was meant only for me to read.
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