The Storm
The storm was kind of exciting in a weird sort of way. I kept a vigil at three different windows willing the trees to stay upright and out of my house. They did so I figured a little power outage was nothing.
Since morning came and there was still no power which meant no desperately needed morning coffee I headed on out of here for warmer quarters, a good cup of coffee and a newspaper. Coffee cup in hand halfway through the Globe and Mail and a man from my neighbourhood walked in. We see each other out walking all the time and I know the name of his dog but that is it. Of course he was finding a refuge from a cold home too and we got to talking. Then a friend I knew came in and joined us and after some time we decided maybe we had overstayed our welcome so headed on down the street to the next coffeeshop. In Victoria this is about 50 feet. By the time the day was done our little group had grown to 9, all of us walking from one coffeeshop to the next with the only exception being a stop for Thai food for lunch. It was a great time.
Then, I called my sister and the two of us went out.
By the time I got back I had heat and I had power and I had emails from different family members and far flung friends wondering if I was ok because they had seen the news. So I wrote my emails saying the storm was nothing, which for me it was and then I watched the news. I had no idea what some poor folks were dealing with. Trees smashed into vehicles, into houses and into one apartment complex. Roofs ripped off, porches and balconies gone.
This morning I was returning from the ocean and ran into a neighbour lady and she said it had been a terrible day. No power, no heat and no hot water. I didn't know what to say. The day for me was like a mini holiday.
The poor hydro workers are still hard at work and some people have been told it could be a week before they see their power restored. Now that's rough.
Things I need to buy:
a flashlight - I'm sure I own a yellow flashlight! Where oh where is that yellow flashlight?
a flashlight - I'm sure I own a yellow flashlight! Where oh where is that yellow flashlight?
have candles - not much use without matches
a battery powered radio - I gave my CD/radio player away after I bought my ipod- oops!
14 comments:
i just counted..i have 9 flashlights...one of those weird things like women and shoes..i see a cool new one and i need it
Now that's funny. Maybe if I started thinking in terms of buying flashlights to match my shoes I'd be in business!
I love how you made the storm something positive....I'm always scared out of my mind by the wind. Not so much in the day, but at night it terrifies me. I also do the willing the trees up from the window thing.
Funny how you guys gathered coffee'ers as you went along. Nice way to spend a storm!
you say funny...i'm thinking its just weird
It seems that you found something positive about that storm.
Important things to have too (if you loose power again) food that doesn't need to be cooked!
Deb, I had never worried about the trees before but we have been losing so many trees around town that suddenly those beautiful Gary Oaks looked rather manacing! It was realy fun the way we collected people along the way and had the power not gone out it would never have happened.
Kelly, I was just being polite! The weird part goes without saying. (smile)
Evelyne, having food that doesn't need cooking is a good one. Will you be listening to tonight's Strombo show? I'm sure hoping it's not a repeat for I am in dire need of an Alex fix!
I called my mom (she lives three blocks from you) to check out damage myself because I was seeing the news too! Not too much damage in the area.
If you get a flashlight, you should get a LED kind. They take forever to wear out batteries!
I still have my sports walkman for such radio emergencies (I still use it for jogging sometimes).
It started snowing here again. I hope it stops by the end of the week for my home coming!
I have about 5 flashlights, none of which have working batteries.
What a great tale of comradery in the midst of the storm aftermath. I'm so glad you went out to that coffee shop.
I feel awful at the thought of losing all those trees though. I hope you guys are back to normal soon.
Small town teacher, I'm headed downtown with a friend later and I think I will try and find a flashlight somewhere along the way. LED, sounds like just the thing for me.
Barbara flashlights without batteries sounds like me with candles everywhere and no matches. That's being prepared! The day was fun and I know it never would have happened otherwise. Sometimes you just need that common thread to get past the don't do anything other than nod to your neighbour kind of mentality.
I'm glad I went to work the day we lost power here, or I may have had a horrible day sitting in the dark...or I may have just gone back to bed and got some much needed nappy time in heehee :)
I really love the way you went from coffee shop to coffee shop collecting people. Its sounds so "Island" (read COOL) to me. I just can't see that happening in Vancouver, oh...maybe on The Drive, but I think most of it was out of power too. Vancouver got the power back quite quickly.
We have been watching the news footage over the past few days and I am just horrorstruck by those images! Especially the ones of trees speared through roofs and narrowly missing beds, etc. There was that one lady who survived such a fate becuase she got out of bed to make some tea. Did you see that story? WOW.
K, I got your message about something on your kitty blawg, so Im on my way there xoxox
Quite the storm from the sounds of it. Seems like you made the best of it. Every 50 feet. Ha.
One flashlight with weak batteries. Candles; somewhere?? I don't remember. Now, I'll look.
Good luck.
Busterp, after every storm or mild earthquake in the area I think, "Ok this time I'm really going to get my emergency packet together." It will never happen.
Reminds me...one night I felt a very "urgent" need to get my emergency kit together. I scrambled around and threw one together, making a list of things I didn't have/needed. The next morning we had an earthquake. A mild one but, needless to say, I felt a little spooked by my preminition.
Whoa, that's kind of eerie. A friend of mine always has an earthquake kit ready but her kids keep breaking into it and eating the emergency chocolate bars!
I'll be the dork on the news you see in every disaster that was completely unprepared, whimpering for help!
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