So I wrote this about a month ago and then promptly lost it somewhere on the damn cloud, or whatever it is that floats around in cyberspace eating my thoughts and ideas. Well, guess what? This is my blog and I want to use it!!!! So pretend it's November 6th or something, ok?
This morning people woke up in the dark. Again. For maybe the eighth morning in a row. Ridiculous, hunh? It’s not Little House on the Prairie, it’s 2011. And yet, people are still in the dark. Yeah, because we live in New England, and apparently Jim Cantore just bought a house in our neck of the woods, cursing us for weather patterns forever. So far this year, we have had the Snowpocolypse- when we received at least 2 million inches of snow. The plow pile at the end of my driveway reached the second floor. I could stand on top and see into my son’s room. Now that is RIDICULOUS. We lost power a few times, but not for very long. Then we had tornadoes- not crazy tornadoes like the midwest suffered from, but tornadoes all the same. We were at a school event huddled in the stair well. My hubs and son were barricaded in the basement convinced the world was actually going to end. We were lucky- western Massachusetts was devastated- entire towns were plowed through leaving swaths of destruction cris-crossing neighborhoods. As people were just starting to recover the meteorologists began flipping a nutty over a hurricane. And kept flipping out. Frantically predicting the apocalypse. Sadly, they weren’t totally wrong. It did rain. I didn’t think it rained terribly hard, but all of a sudden we had no power. It kept being out- we waited, and waited, and still, no power. After two days of roughing it, off to a hotel we went. The first day of school? Cancelled. Start racking up those snow days early! It’s 90 degrees outside and we have a SNOW DAY? I so enjoyed it though- little Mr. M headed to daycare, and I lazed about the air conditioned hotel, and enjoyed a lovely, peaceful, quiet lunch. All was well until the evening, when some idiot mother decided that her bouncing toddler can sleep in the big bed with mama. Of course he couldn't, and off to the emergency room we went! Toddler noggins are fairly resistant, however, and he went from dazed and way confused to hyperactive and climbing out of the baby crib/stretcher/cage. Needless to say, no CAT scan, just a bill for $100. Power came back that night, too. Clear out the fridge and freezer, and start over again. Breath a sigh of relief, only 40+ hours with no power.
Ok, it’s fall now. End of October, and the meteorologists do it again- get all crazy about a Nor’Easter- record levels of snowfall! Mass destruction! Sure. Whatever you say. Well, they were sort of right. There was snow, and lots of wind, but not an epic amount of snow. What did happen was mass suicide by trees across the state. You couldn’t sleep for the staccato of breaking trees. The next morning really was post-apocalyptic. Trees blocking most roads, no power to be found, ANYWHERE. Wegman’s didn’t even have power, just their back up generator. And it was COLD. Teeth chattering cold. At least there was sunlight to warm the house up a little bit. Blankets and sweatshirts did the trick, until we approached nightfall. Something had to be done. Mass evacuations were occurring- ever the idiot I had NOT booked a hotel room first thing in the morning, like I had recommended my friends do. We joined the exodus and slept elsewhere. The next day, I dropped Mr. M off at daycare- she had power, heat, TV, everything a toddler could want! I pulled out all my tricks- fire in the fireplace, took down curtains to maximize sun exposure, and called every single hotel in a crazy radius. Nothing. Nada. Hotels were taking reservations online, but actually had no power at their facility. It was a free for all. There were so few gas stations with power, I actually saw a cat fight at the pump over who was next. Roads impassable, and obviously, snow day number two for schools everywhere. And number three, and four and five for many districts. We got our power back after about 39 hours, thankfully, but I had neighbors out until almost a full week afterwards. As I write this, there are still families in western mass with no power. People DIED from this storm. We lost another fridges’ worth of food, which is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. My neighborhood is still barely passable because of the hundred year old trees that had to get busted up by National Guard tanks are still lying mostly in the road. Our yard is covered in broken trees, and crushed patio furniture. You know what pisses me off the most though? The emails I keep getting from the town. “Please bring storm debris to the town garage”. And how? I have a fifty foot tree in the back yard. Am I supposed to hitch that to my son’s tricycle and drag it through town? State of emergency you nutso politicians! Use the money from the government to rent a damn wood chipper and drive around for a couple of months! You had to bring a TANK to my neighborhood to move trees. Come pick it up your damn selves. Or get that tank back in here. The National Guard seemed to have it together.
Ok, it’s fall now. End of October, and the meteorologists do it again- get all crazy about a Nor’Easter- record levels of snowfall! Mass destruction! Sure. Whatever you say. Well, they were sort of right. There was snow, and lots of wind, but not an epic amount of snow. What did happen was mass suicide by trees across the state. You couldn’t sleep for the staccato of breaking trees. The next morning really was post-apocalyptic. Trees blocking most roads, no power to be found, ANYWHERE. Wegman’s didn’t even have power, just their back up generator. And it was COLD. Teeth chattering cold. At least there was sunlight to warm the house up a little bit. Blankets and sweatshirts did the trick, until we approached nightfall. Something had to be done. Mass evacuations were occurring- ever the idiot I had NOT booked a hotel room first thing in the morning, like I had recommended my friends do. We joined the exodus and slept elsewhere. The next day, I dropped Mr. M off at daycare- she had power, heat, TV, everything a toddler could want! I pulled out all my tricks- fire in the fireplace, took down curtains to maximize sun exposure, and called every single hotel in a crazy radius. Nothing. Nada. Hotels were taking reservations online, but actually had no power at their facility. It was a free for all. There were so few gas stations with power, I actually saw a cat fight at the pump over who was next. Roads impassable, and obviously, snow day number two for schools everywhere. And number three, and four and five for many districts. We got our power back after about 39 hours, thankfully, but I had neighbors out until almost a full week afterwards. As I write this, there are still families in western mass with no power. People DIED from this storm. We lost another fridges’ worth of food, which is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things. My neighborhood is still barely passable because of the hundred year old trees that had to get busted up by National Guard tanks are still lying mostly in the road. Our yard is covered in broken trees, and crushed patio furniture. You know what pisses me off the most though? The emails I keep getting from the town. “Please bring storm debris to the town garage”. And how? I have a fifty foot tree in the back yard. Am I supposed to hitch that to my son’s tricycle and drag it through town? State of emergency you nutso politicians! Use the money from the government to rent a damn wood chipper and drive around for a couple of months! You had to bring a TANK to my neighborhood to move trees. Come pick it up your damn selves. Or get that tank back in here. The National Guard seemed to have it together.
Bring it to the town garage? You really don’t want me to. I won’t be kind.
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