the sound of silence

broken only by the call of the geese

the song of the birds

and

the crunch of the snow ploughs

as they scrape the roads

of the snow and ice

that fell on us all.

about two hours after my last post

the lights went out

and they stayed out

we very rarely lose the power here

we are on a co-op that somehow stays together

as the big huge power companies a little further North

fall like dominoes

plunging hundreds of thousands of people into the dark

and cold

we have a gas fire place that works without electricity so we had warmth

the hubs bought an oil lamp that gives us a light

and we don't have kids to worry about

(well, we have kids, but not here at home

and yes, we worry, a lot, about them

being out in the cold and traffic

but you know what I mean)

the snow that fell on us all

came down at a rate of 2" an hr.

there was thunder and lightning with it

it has been named

"thundersnow"

and

"carmaggedon"

the traffic all over the area got so snarled

it took some people

12hrs to get home

cars had to be abandoned because they ran out of gas

people walked miles in the freezing cold because there was no other way

emergency and police and road crews were unable to get through the traffic

we listened to the  battery operated radio

and heard the stories from the people in their cars

tell of the nightmare they were stuck in

one of the reporters called every half hour to report on her journey home

usually an hour's trip that turned into an almost 8 hr crawl

and when she finally got home the lights were out and trees were down and then her battery died

so I don't know what happened next

our power came on at about 11.30 pm

I went to bed a little after that

 and the phone rang..... it was the power co telling us our power was back on!!!!!

at about 6.30 ish... I woke up because  husband was lighting the fire place again

the power had gone again

we have a gas cook top

so we were able to make some tea and I listened again to the radio

one million people without power

abandoned cars all over the place

hi ways and byways covered in ice and drifts and trees and branches

and live wires on the ground

Power company officials making all sorts of promises and giving all sorts of excuses

again

the system to get people out of a city that isn't that big to begin with

crumbled almost at the first sign of a snow flake

too many cars on too few streets

too many officials not using common sense and letting everyone go out

into an approaching storm all at the same time

kids in school buses

kids alone at home

parents stuck in traffic that was at a complete standstill for up to 12hrs

12 hrs

!!!!

when the lights came on at 11.30 I saw the pictures and heard the frustration and saw the anger

and the thing that hit the hardest was the

fear

so many asking what would happen

if something happened

this was a snow storm

and

the system broke down fast and furious

it has happened before

but never on this huge a scale

and it WILL happen again

but nothing ever seems to change

no one uses common sense

the "plans" never work and it seems no one ever learns anything

and one of the first things I heard when the TV was turned on

is that we no longer have a

colour coded system to show us how much

"danger"

we are in

home land security has done away with the "colours of fear"

but the fear of what is real and present

has no colours

well

that's another story I guess

people died in that storm

a man was crushed in his vehicle by a falling tree

no one could help him and they found him somewhere else

which means he got out of his car and went looking for help

he never found it

he died in the snow and ice

alone

if a snow storm,

albeit a freakish one,

can bring an area to a screeching halt

so fast and so completely

I wonder what will happen

when something happens

will a lesson be learnt from this

?

.......

while the power was out we were home safe and sound

the ploughs came and cleared the roads

our neighbours drove in and out of the neighbourhood

the clouds parted and the sun came out and the snow started to melt

the sky turned that blue that it turns, after a storm has gone through

the hubs cleared the front and I tidied up the house a little

and made things easier in case we needed to move around in the dark again

he read and I knitted

and drank a lousy cup of coffee!!

we had grilled cheese for brunch!!!!  because we have a gas cook top

(we did that on purpose, because, we live out in the country and the lights go out, once in a while)

we know how to do things to "survive" for a few hours

we collected snow in buckets to use in the bathroom.....

I filled bottles with water because we lose that as well, because we have,

well,

a well!!!

 and thought about cooking some things

.....

and

 as soon as we had made ready to maybe go through another night without power

the lights came back on and they have stayed on

but there are thousands, hundreds of thousands,

 who still sit in their cold houses just a few miles outside

of

the nation's capital

and life continues as always

the house is back to it's "used look"

and the cat is settling in for a long nap

after watching the birds outside, eating as much as they can

 she is warm and fed and safe

the kids are OK

the people made it home



except for one

......

PS I just looked outside and it's
snowing
again!!!