Snow lovers; Since Thursday I (and 300,000 others) have been coping with life without power. Temps. in the teens for several nights and every exterior surface coated with ice. Power was restored this afternoon. I had an immediate shower, after having given myself a daily morning sponge bath with a teacup of boiled water (from the bathtub I had had the sense to fill.)
It was all pretty exhausting; leaping out of bed at 3:00 AM to either rebuild or stoke the fire, peeing into a yogurt container and throwing the contents outside, emptying the sump pump hole by hand, and then straining the water (filled with grit and gravel) so that I could flush a toilet once a day. Once the sun set, it was terrible. I had, luckily, one little battery-operated radio and a land line phone, but ended going to bed by 8:00 and trying to read, unsuccessfully, by either flashlight or candlelight. I am really too old for all of this.
My extra money, such as it is, will now go to a guy with a chain saw and a pick-up truck to clean up the really severe damage done to trees, downed, limbs and a general mess. More snow and ice predicted for tonight, tomorrow, Friday and Sunday.
I am ready to donate my knees to the Smithsonian. Yesterday, MIlo went in and out in the same motion. As his rear legs were exiting, his front quarters were returning to the 55˚ area near wood stove.
There are still 48 homes with no power, one belonging to a friend who is ready to go sit on an ice floe and let nature really take its course.
Praise the Lord for the Subaru.