After a week of warm, really warm, weather we were surprised by a massive storm. We hadn't had rain in so long that things that normally get put away have been left out with no worries. The back deck hadn't even been damp in the morning it was that dry. The first sign of a storm that Friday, was the darkening sky. Steve went out front to close the windows in the cars and I cleaned up the backyard. After the winds started blowing the rain sideways the power went out and Steve moved the cars into the garage, fortunately the doors were open when the power went out. Then the cottonwood tree out back lost a limb that landed on the shed and the grill, it was about 15ft long and flew about 15ft before it landed. About that same time the wind blew limbs off the pear trees across the street. We had rain, hail and 85mph wind gusts. We were lucky, we only lost electricity and we have a generator. The electricity came back on Monday afternoon, 68 hours after it went out. After the storm on Friday 45% of AEP's Ohio customers were without electricity.
We survived the heat by opening all the windows at night and closing them and the blinds when the inside temperature came close to the outside temp. The indoor/outdoor thermometer I received for Christmas was very helpful during those 3 days as were the cool nights on Friday and Sunday.
The power outage once again reinforce my love of the neighborhood. Friday night was spent on the front porch with the Baxters and the Guagentis. Saturday night Karen, Cathy and I escaped the heat by having dinner out and then going shopping. We took the car that has 3 power outlets and charged phones and my Kindle. Orange Township was amazing with cleaning up the trees. They came through Friday night and moved all the trees out of the streets and then later in the weekend picked up those trees and hauled them away. The Orange Twp. maintenance department takes very good care of our neighborhood in all seasons - Thanks!
Sunday afternoon CJ had a cello lesson and fortunately Otterbein had power. Steve and I relaxed in the lobby while CJ and Gillian did their thing. It was so cool and quiet that Steve took a short nap. On the way home we stopped at BJ's for an early dinner and some cool air. The waiter was so sweet telling us we could stay as long as we needed and since we were there in between the lunch and dinner crowds we did just that.
Monday morning Steve started the generator(again) and then headed out to work. After it ran for several hours I turned it off so that it could rest and so could my ears. Generators are loud. That afternoon I gassed it back up and attempted to start it. Having no luck I went in to find CJ in the hopes that he could start it. While looking for CJ I noticed that the answering machine was blinking and looking around it dawned on me that the electricity had come back on. I was amazed at how long it took my mind to process that information, it may have been a whole minute. After alerting CJ we did a happy dance and then called Steve and a neighbors that had been staying with a friend or were working. Later that night we were able to open the refrigerator without fear of precious cool air escaping and we slept with the air on and no hum of generators!
This leaf is from the cottonwood tree. It was stuck to the sliding glass door.
We survived the heat by opening all the windows at night and closing them and the blinds when the inside temperature came close to the outside temp. The indoor/outdoor thermometer I received for Christmas was very helpful during those 3 days as were the cool nights on Friday and Sunday.
The power outage once again reinforce my love of the neighborhood. Friday night was spent on the front porch with the Baxters and the Guagentis. Saturday night Karen, Cathy and I escaped the heat by having dinner out and then going shopping. We took the car that has 3 power outlets and charged phones and my Kindle. Orange Township was amazing with cleaning up the trees. They came through Friday night and moved all the trees out of the streets and then later in the weekend picked up those trees and hauled them away. The Orange Twp. maintenance department takes very good care of our neighborhood in all seasons - Thanks!
Sunday afternoon CJ had a cello lesson and fortunately Otterbein had power. Steve and I relaxed in the lobby while CJ and Gillian did their thing. It was so cool and quiet that Steve took a short nap. On the way home we stopped at BJ's for an early dinner and some cool air. The waiter was so sweet telling us we could stay as long as we needed and since we were there in between the lunch and dinner crowds we did just that.
Monday morning Steve started the generator(again) and then headed out to work. After it ran for several hours I turned it off so that it could rest and so could my ears. Generators are loud. That afternoon I gassed it back up and attempted to start it. Having no luck I went in to find CJ in the hopes that he could start it. While looking for CJ I noticed that the answering machine was blinking and looking around it dawned on me that the electricity had come back on. I was amazed at how long it took my mind to process that information, it may have been a whole minute. After alerting CJ we did a happy dance and then called Steve and a neighbors that had been staying with a friend or were working. Later that night we were able to open the refrigerator without fear of precious cool air escaping and we slept with the air on and no hum of generators!
This leaf is from the cottonwood tree. It was stuck to the sliding glass door.
This is such a good recounting of those days!
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