Coffee Break?

They say so..been saying so since last weekend's major snowfall and maybe it is.  Had word from my sister today that the news in the UK says it's the worst storm 90 years so that's nothing to sneeze at.  At the same time, I have to assume it's the worst for the Mid-Atlantic area for I think those I know intimately have experienced a little worse and certainly more frequently.  KW...having lived just about all of her life in MN until we moved here...certainly saw worse during her winters.  Unfortunately, the one winter I was there it was unseasonably mild that even the famous ice sculpture festival had problems with the exhibits melting.  Our best friends are from New York and for them, too, similar storms were par for the course.  Me?  Nope...never saw this in Scotland but the two winters I did live in Maine were arctic. 

So not for us the bread, milk and TP expeditions.  Oh, no...SuperBowl is tomorrow and we're all getting together for the game and my oft-requested chili so Thursday evening KW and I did a shop for those last minute essentials...you know, chips, dips, drummies and wings to supplement, beer.  Too bad I forgot bread, huh?  LOL!   And extra milk!  Then last night we went to D's for the usual game night...it's just round the corner so weren't concerned about the roads getting home except, after we got there found we had a curfew...State of Emergency had been declared and going into effect at 10pm.  Afraid my Corolla would turn into a dog sled at the witching hour, we sped home around nine.  By then, true...roads were well covered, wind blowing and a goodly amount of snow stacking up.  By the time I went to bed around 1a.m. the wind was howling as it does around those little research shacks in Antarctica and with accompaying creaks, groans, bumps and thumps.  Again with the trees around the house...this was/is a very wet snow and I fell asleep  wondering if, this morning, I'd awaken to having been impaled on one of the 50' pine trees.  You might have figured out already...didn't happen.  I was, however, startled awake by a very loud series of three beeps...totally unknown to me for a second then I heard KW ask what in the world it was.  The security system...main terminal being on the wall above my head.  I said I assumed the power had gone off...didn't know but no other explanation and when I glanced around the room all the electronics lights were gone into blackness.  She jumps up and heads for the living room...fortunately, we had not shut off the gas log fire before going to bed last night.  We had figured if we did it would be the devil of a job getting it lit manually so we left it on low...cats loved it.  All their birthdays had come at once.  This was around 4a.m.  Back to bed, me yet again cussing the electric blanket...why is it that these days they don't stay on indefinitely but will shut off after ten hours (for one thing) and, of course, no power no cozy.  KW was up early, I'm up just after eight and, of course, we have no power at all.   And the worst thing of all??  NO coffee!!  As she said, we do keep instant on hand but only for a special coffee I make...it doesn't and can't replace fresh brewed BUT...aha...I remembered I had a French Press somewhere.  Never mind that I had about forgotten how to make a pot of coffee this way...we had the real thing, ugly or not.  Checked on our friends...they had no heat but of course they were more than welcome to bring their pups and join us.  Called our older neighbours to see if they had heat and make the same offer...they too had a gas fire so were okay.  The radio station kept insisting on telling us that given all the power outages in the county the electric companies were saying it would probably take days to restore all lost power...trees, poles, lines were down all over, circuits out and even road conditions were so bad, from time to time, the road crews were being called back  in.  Too hazardous even for them.  Time to make further plans.  All our birds are kept in the kitchen.  All but the little parakeet have big cages..luckily on wheels.  Temps are to go down into the teens tonight and that being very unhealthy for our feathered friends, we decided we'd bring them into the great room to enjoy some comfort from the fire.  For a while it looked like all eighteen of us would be bunking there tonight.  Eleven o'clock this morning we lucked out... power was restored and a happy dance and cheers occupied all of us for about ten minutes.  Then it was a run for showers;  I decided to do my chili and get it going now then it would simply have to be reheated on the gas stove tomorrow; we put the cell phones on charge ...all just in case the energy gods were getting a jump on April Fools Day).  First, of course, was get a pot of coffee on.  KW went out and started to dig a pathway but, thank heavens, gave it up after about twenty minutes.  Then she went out to get some pics...then to make sure the Puppy Truck would start up "just in case we had an emergency and needed to get out".

And then we had an absolutely lovely day watching tv.  I watched about half of the England v. Wales rugby match then we watched two movies.  "Capricorn One"...oooh, great stuff for a skeptic such as myself!  And "City of Joy".  Guess that's when we gain proper persepective.  When you remember the people of Haiti or the teeming masses in Calcutta...loss of power and missing a pot of fresh brewed pales into nothing.  The snow has pelted us and blown about all day, still going...it's actually up beyond KW's knees (she's 5'5') and that's not a drift.  Trees are creaking and groaning and swaying like feathers in the wind, weighed down by  huge white, wet, clumps.   But we are warm and cozy inside with fire (which again, we will leave on overnight), candles, just having finished a hot meal...we have lights;  we will have our blanket tonight, food in cupboards, fridge and freezer (no bread though..lol) and, most of all, not only are we safe and happy but, according to reports all day, almost everyone is. 

Thanks to the DelDot crews for their untiring ministrations to get roads cleared and open for those who had no choice but to be out.  Same to the electric company crews for putting themselves on the line to be out working as hard and fast as they can to ensure as many as possible were as comfortable as possible in as short a time as was possible...and not forgetting all of their families who, I'm sure, worry about them being out there in such conditions.  No doubt they would have preferred to have their loved ones safe at home, too.  Then, something I had never heard of before...Beebe Hospital, besides the head honcho himself being amongst the crews out shuttling necessary staff to the hospital, offered to have those who were to be discharged today just stay put if they wished at no additional expense.  That's a kindness in and of itself.

But now I'm thinking I best go check on KW.  This long day has turned into night and while we were at dinner she decided she was going next door to dig our elderly neighbours out.  The snow seems to be diminishing and we both know that they will be out there first light tomorrow to dig at least a pathway to get their pup out for his walk and, of course, they shouldn't be doing that.  Now she's been out there over an hour..........yet, knowing her, probably built herself a snowman or an igloo.............       And...relief.  Of our three feral kitties we have seen two today...Mama Cat is snug on the straw we put down for her, under the deck...and huddled next to the lamp we put in there to provide at least a little warmth;  Patches, KW saw prowling for a few seconds.  Ginger we haven't seen but that's not unusual in severe weather conditions...he makes himself scarce.  We give him the benefit of the doubt, saying he's a smart cat and probably holed up under the house, in the crawl space.  We opened a couple of the vents especially for the ferals at the beginning of winter so they could get themselves out of storms etc.  But the credit given Ginger might be misplaced...I often suspect he isn't feral at all, just loves variety in his diet and on day's such as today he is probably AT HOME, in front of his own cozy fire enjoying a comfortable nap...while we worry.

Oops...sorry Ginge!  I misspoke...KW, finally back indoors, tells me she just saw him hunkered down in the dog igloo we have on the deck...that we bought for any/all of the ferals in the Fall and then, towards winter, she brought home a pet heating pad to plug in and put in there.  Well...they have been fed and looks like all are safe and warm for the night, thanks be.

But here's the thing...six inches or twenty (turns out that's what we, in this immediate area, got this weekend) take heart in knowing that, even now the Spring bulbs are already sending up their shoots...snowdrops, daffodils, crocuses all anxious to greet the light and I have hope that when this wonderland has melted into grey,  mushy slush we can scrape it aside to find the green of new life.  Really...Spring is not so far away.   

Tags: Blizzard of 2010, Delaware, Delaware Electical Co-op, DelDot, Maine, Mid-Atlantic storm, Minnesota, New York, snow