Monday, September 22, 2008

And The Lights Went Out.....

I came across this sketch by an artist by the name of "Sloan" and thought it to be appropriate (I guess in a romantic sort of way) for this past week. As Hurricane Ike hit Galveston and devestated that poor city, it continued on up through the country, all the way to my little town of Darlington, Pennsylvania. On that night, as we were watching the "Pittsburgh Steelers", the lights went out in Darlington.

The winds went on to "Howl" that night for about 4 hours. My dog, lady, who loves to be outside, would not step foot into the yard. I tried many times to get her to go out "to make herself more comfortable, so to speak", but she ran right back into the house. Do I blame her? Not one bit. For you see, those wind gusts hit 81 mph! Never in my life have I experienced such a frightening storm. A storm without one drop of rain! Just the constant sweep of wind.

In our area, we have many hills to break up the wind. In addition, we live down in a little valley and really did not get the full impact of the wind. But, living in the country, as we do, we got our share of downed limbs and sticks and green leaves that just blew right off the trees. We lost one tree. I thank the good Lord he chose to keep those tall oaks standing around our house. It truly is amazing how they bend and sway in the wind.

Needless to say, out came the candles and the oil lamps, and of course, thank goodness we had good batteries in the flashlights.

Since we had no electric and we have a well, we had no pump to pump the water. Thank goodness for the places that did have electric and gave us free water. My sweet hubby made many trips, with many containers to haul water. I have to tell you ladies that I have a "new appreciation" for the frontier women who toted and fetched water all day long. Water to drink, water to bathe, water to flush toilets, water for the dog. I can see why those women were in way better shape than I am!

God bless my mother for having a generator for us to use so we didn't lose everything in our freezer. Those peaches that were picked and frozen to enjoy in the middle of winter, would surely have been missed!

But here we are, a week later, and the lights came back on at 6PM last night, right when the Steeler game was on! It's like I dreamed all this......

have a wonderful week,
Kitty

10 comments:

  1. Wow Kitty, a whole week !! How awful !! People would die here in Las Vegas without power, The temperatures get so high that we really need our air conditioning. Poor Lady. :( My little ones wont go out when it rains so I break out the puppy pads for them, lol. Well, I am glad you have power my friend !! :) I hope this next week is wonderful after all of that.

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  2. Mom... I am SO SO glad you have your power back... what an adventure! Kinda like camping in the woods... but atleast you had a comfy bed. :)

    Love Heather

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  3. OH this sounds so familiar! We lost power for a week this spring, and we have a well too! It isn't easy taking care of the bare necessities without it is it!? Thanks for stopping an leaving a comment, I am really enjoying your blog:>)

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  4. When you empty a bleach bottle, fill it with water and put the cap on tight. I save water this way. The bleach kills the 'cooties' and it's there for emergencies.
    Glad everything's ok.
    S

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  5. Wasnt it scary Kitty? I hunkered down with all the pets and prayed my knees off!
    smiles
    DarLy*~

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  6. What an amazing experience and so strange to have the TV turn on to another game like that. It would have felt like a dream to me as well. I'm happy that you and your family are safe. Have a beautiful weekend.

    Nancy

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  7. Oh my goodness Kitty! I panic when the power goes out for an hour. A whole week! No microwave? I wouldn't know how to function. LOL

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  8. Kitty-
    I am just now visiting your blog (and am just bemoaning all I must have missed in discovering you so late!) I'm participating in the vintage halloween swap and your lovely creations were among my favorite pictures so I followed them here and have so thoroughly enjoyed your blog! One day when I have time I must peruse your archives. For now, it was nice to make your acquaintance and I simply must add you to my 'friends and inspirations' blogroll...and I'll most definitely be back to visit often! :) Oh- and I'm so glad to hear you have your power back. We live in northeast Texas and had some damage to our house, but thankfully, we were only without power a day!
    Nice to "meet" you again- your blog is just wonderful!
    *hugs*
    Randi
    sweetlyhappilyartfully.blogspot.com

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  9. Wow, so glad you didn't lose those oaks close to the house! My uncle in Ohio had a tree from the same storm fall into his house. Big bad mean Ike, so glad he is gone for good now and that you are safe and electrified once again!
    Laura

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  10. Wow, Kitty, we here in central TX got no rain, and a slight breeze for two days. More power to ya!lol
    Love the Halloween journal and swap items.

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