Timeless Darkness

My birthday is in mid-December, and having snow on my birthday isn't very typical in these parts.  Sure we'll get the occasional minor snow storm around Thanksgiving, but those are nothing really.

Don't get me wrong, in these parts come the end of November it feels like winter.  The ground is frozen solid, the sky is bleak, and you can just feel it in your bones.  But that's the end of November; not Halloween or sooner.

About this time last week, I was pleading to my step-dad above to stop doing his snow dance; that we didn't need a white Halloween.

He didn't listen.

Early in the afternoon on October 29th it started snowing.

Monkey watching the snow fall.
You can tell he's getting sick in this picture, more to come on that later.

It was a big fat heavy snow.  And before long it was sticking to everything in site.

My poor pumpkins.

Some of Turkey's Halloween decorations.

By mid afternoon we had resigned to the fact that it was going to snow, and snow and snow some more.  Turkey was thrilled and was out playing in it as quick as I could get the snow gear out of the attic.

He must have made a dozen snow angles.

Around dinner time the cable, phone and internet went out.  (Whoever thought of bundle packages for these services should be shot.)  And with that we decided to watch the 3rd Narnia movie: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, once Monkey went to bed.  Husband, Turkey and I were cuddled up on the couch watching, and just as the movie was getting good there was a "pop".  Blackness followed.  

Until this point I don't think we ever thought it was possible we would loose power during this storm.  After all we had weathered a blizzard, a hurricane and intense thunderstorms with tornado possibilities in this house never once loosing power.   But thankfully earlier in the week Husband had been getting ready for a camping trip with Turkey and had stocked up on batteries and flashlights.  

That first night we all slept in our own beds; well at least the kids slept some (Monkey was waking nearly every hour).  Husband and I were constantly being awakened by strange sounds coming from outside in the darkness.  It was around this point that the meaning of time was lost.  

Sometime before dawn Husband and I started looking outside to see what had happened over night.  We were greeted with some 17-inches of snow.

The tree that just missed Husband's car.

Our poor patio furniture.

Our tall pines.

Turkey climbing the snowy mountain, we call our back yard.

The noises we were hearing over night were the trees in our woods falling down around us.  We got lucky, a tree fell on our neighbor's house (and they left in the middle of the night), and another large branch fell just inches from Husband's car.  When you opened the door, you were greeted with a strong pine scent from all the fall trees and branches.

Once Monkey was down for his nap, Husband, Turkey and I made quick work of getting our car out in-case there was an emergency.

The hours and days that followed were a loss; and right now seem a blurry memory.  

We: 

• went for a drive to assess the situation
• waited in line for 40 (ok 50) minutes to get gas (learned a lesson on that one)
• ate tuna sandwiches for dinner by candle light
• all slept in the big bedroom, which always stays warm (Turkey has a new love for his grandpa's sleeping bag)
• watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the laptop (while praying the battery lasted)
• went to bed when it got dark
• laid in bed waiting for the sunrise, wondering what time it was
• tried to make cell calls, but the cell towers were down
• visited relatives who actually had power AND cable AND internet (lucky them)
• stopped by our church
• play Left-Right-Center by flashlight
• read lots of books by daylight (I can't believe I waited so long to share Eloise with Turkey)
  and the list goes on and on.

Some time, in the middle of the night in the blackness, on Halloween morning we heard a utility truck working on the pole outside the bedroom window.  Husband and I lay there in the dark, half expecting the lights to come on suddenly, trying not to get our hopes up.

Then around dawn it came: "We have power" Husband stated.  And we did.  All of the lights and gadgets we had left on back on Saturday night came whizzing back to life.  

We were lucky.  Very lucky, we got power back before many of our friends and family and even neighbors.  It is nearly 5 days later and some of our friends still don't have power.  In fact my work is still without it.  Unfortunately we didn't get phone, cable and internet back until last night; so we were not able to share our good fortune with everyone and offer them a warm place to stay.  (Cell service was reduced to 911 calls only for a few days as well.)

Turkey was anxious to go trick or treating with the kids up the street, but after a few houses we received word that trick or treating was cancelled.

The boys and the neighbor's being goofy.

But this was only the first half of our adventure this week.....