Along came Hurricane Irene
Posted: Monday, September 05, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
In another article, The Grass Is Green On My Side Of The Fence, I discussed the pretty area of Connecticut I call home. Even Hurricane Irene cannot change how much our family loves this area, but when she breezed in she put the kibosh on our daily lives for a week.
The worst weather conditions we experience here are occasional thunderstorms, heavy snowfalls or even a blizzard or ice storm. This year it was different. First came the freak tornados that hit just north of us, the earthquake that shook the East Coast from Virginia to north of Hartford and now this hurricane. Within a month’s time, we had three relatively unusual “occurrences” and I hope three’s a charm!
Our home is situated in a region that has never flooded. Massive trees are sufficiently away from the house to prevent a direct hit although falling treetops potentially endanger the barn and outbuildings. We prepared by “buttoning down” and removing any furniture that could become flying projectiles. All lawn furniture, pond decorations and our numerous wind chimes were put away. We were ready and awaited the event.
Hurricane Irene was expected to hit our area at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. The storm took its good old time getting here until, finally, it hit us at 9ish. Irene packed substantial wind with feisty gusts and the expected rains. We watched the treetops swing and sway wildly. It was easy to follow the progress of the winds as gusts cut a swath throughout the wooded areas.
Overall, Irene brought us wind force and heavy bouts of rain. Since we were on the eastern side of the storm, we apparently were peppered with more of the winds. It hammered us for many hours making our trees rock and sway, lose branches and litter the yard. No trees came down. To be sure, the yard was a mess with litter, twigs, branches and mountains of leaves – but that was the extent of it.
Connecticut residents were warned off the streets, mostly due to extensive downed wires, water, flooding and downed trees in all sectors of the State.
The biggest deal was the loss of power. Our electricity went out even before the storm officially hit. Late Saturday we lost our power – and that’s the last time we had any (it is now late Sunday). Oh joy! What is the old adage, “You don’t miss it until you lose it?” Let me assure you, we miss it.
We originally reported our power outage to the electric company just about when Irene breezed in. Their representative said, “You guys are early risers. No one has reported any outages in your area yet.” Oh really. Surprise?! We had to chuckle because we knew immediately this was not a good sign - - -
So here we are, a week later, still without electric power. Many households share our powerless status, and they may be off far worse than we are. At least we can power up the generator. We have the means to use indoor flushable facilities and draw fresh water. Our meals are grilled and tasty even without the normal cooking arrangements. Life continues like a prolonged camping trip without too many conveniences.
The big drawbacks are the evenings. It’s not just missing the TV, it is not being informed of news and world happenings. It’s not having computers at our beck and call. Actually, it’s a longer list but you get the idea. We’ve dragged out the board games and cards. It’s just no fun by candlelight after the first day.
We have gasoline in our cars and for the generator. Our cell phones and our landline are operational. The high tech extensions and different electronic gadgets are out of commission for the time being.
Already our school-age child lost one entire week of school due to the power outages. Now she’ll start her freshman year on September 6. She can forget about the spring vacation this year and school has not even started yet. Sadly, all introductions and celebrations for freshmen at this academy are forfeit.
I look at it this way – The storm brought me a life lesson to reinforce the basics. I am reminded to appreciate family and everything that I have. And, I count my blessings. When even the simplest things are taken away, for whatever reason, it’s difficult to adjust. Creature comforts and everyday blessings of technology are difficult to give up, even for several days. Lessons learned.
So here we are, several days after our brush with Hurricane Irene – a storm that brought wind and rain. We ducked the worst of it in our area. All we have is inconvenience.
We are adjusting. We’re not crybabies and consider ourselves tough and unspoiled. Yet give us our power back, please?
There was talk about another storm on the same path? Noooo!
This Article has been viewed 386 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Wow, OGM, glad you made it through ok, but I know life without electricity can be very stressful!We can count our blessings that we didn't get the mess some other locations got. The thing is that once the worst of the storm is over, it doesn't take long before you want to get on with it. Things certainly don't always go as quickly as you'd like. It certainly can always get worse. Thanks so much for the comment Bruce.
I was thinking of you, as news said you would be hit.
What a time to go through, and all the goings-on in your areas leading up to this!!! Knowing you`re going to be hit, and the waiting, what anxiety!!! So glad to hear from you, and glad things are mostly back on track. I watched the video, good it was posted. I don`t always watch the American TV. channel; but we do get some clips.
So glad it was not any worse for your family. Take care, and thanks for letting us know how it was for you.Things are back to normal now. Today a cold front pulled in and I don't think we'll get out of 50s. This is lots of peoples' favorite times. But not mine. I like spring and summer. Fall gets me to winter and you already know I hate it cold. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Yep, they can be tough. We did okay here. Hope all is back to normal soonYep. It's back to normal. Thank goodness. We didn't have it anywhere as severe as others and we're grateful for that. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Hi Heidi.
By the last comments, I see that you are getting back to normal now. That's a very good thing. I heard on the news about another bout of storms heading for the eastern states and thought of you. Hope it turns out to be mostly nothing. How did the horses weather Irene?
Hugs,
DianneThe three of them never missed a beat. When the generator went on, we were able to water them normally without having to do a bucket brigade, thank goodness. There was just Sunday when I was watching the trees swinging and swaying that I had a little concern about a tree snapping. Fortunately, all went well. Amazing how spoiled we were. I mean in the whole scheme of things, we were not off that badly. Power - well it's a great inconvenience but we weren't cold or hot, we could eat and drink and drive. The horses were safe and well taken care of. We could even let the few birds we have out. It's just that we were unable to get on with life as usual. We're not used to serious weather here unless you want to talk snowstorms. I found not having power humbling - a back to basics lesson. It reinforces you to take stock in what you do have, what is good, that your family is with you and safe, and that you should enjoy the time together. We did that. Board games, cards, and we read and slept a lot. Glad you took time to read and comment Take care.
I had no idea that you lived in her path! Thanks for sharing a little too much excitement you had with your readers! I have been in tornado and earthquake country but never hurricane - I'll pass I think.Well, funny thing is that when you think of hurricanes, you don't ever consider New England. We get an occasional hurricane, even a rare tornado. Guess we never really know. Thanks for giving this a read.
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