It began in the early hours of Sunday, three days before Christmas. We were awakened by a loud crash. The kind that makes you think a tree must have fallen on your house. Tes came into our room and said the power was out. Jason looked out the window and saw some fallen branches. We went back to sleep. These things never last.
The house began to cool down. As it got lighter outdoors, we saw just how much ice there was and how many branches had fallen. (A tree had not fallen ON our house but many limbs had bounced off our roof and were the cause of the crash we’d heard earlier.) The Christmas tree lights were out and the house was silent – which was eerie. We are a plugged in family. Nearly everything in our home is electric so we had no news of what was going on. We turned on our battery powered police scanner and the gravity of the situation started to hit home. Almost the entire city was without power. Traffic lights and street lights were out. Police and emergency workers were doing damage control. Power lines were down everywhere. Hundreds of them. We heard the names of streets on which our friends lived, some twenty miles out of town. Several times we heard the words, “arcing and sparking” and “add it to the list” when yet another street or intersection was mentioned to have a downed power line. Nursing homes were evacuating because the residents needed power for heat and medical equipment. I began to worry just a little. We were scheduled to light the four candles on the Advent wreath that morning at Mass. I was afraid to walk out my front door.
So. No cooking (electric range, electric microwave oven). No television, internet or mobile phone for me (of course, mine hadn't charged all night because of the power outage) and no wi-fi for Tes’ iPod. Fortunately, Jason’s old-school phone was still charged up. I told the kids to eat whatever they wanted out of the fridge because eating it up is better than having it sit and spoil. The pantry was also fair game so Paul attacked the saltines, a favorite of his. I broke out the chocolate chips I’d been saving for Christmas baking. We seriously had saltines and chocolate chips for lunch. We set the gallon of milk out on the deck.
Jason went outdoors to clear branches and I took my camera to capture some memories. I knew this was one of the things that Caleb wouldn't remember in five years. I wanted photographic evidence of what we’d survived. I moved around photographing the piles of icy branches and every now and then I'd hear a crack and a crash from a distance away. Trees and branches were still falling. Jason told me to stay out from under the bigger trees. The neighbor was on his porch, making breakfast on a camp stove. Everything was sparkling with ice and the smell of bacon and eggs was in the air. It was an odd contrast. The Dog-Walking Man was nowhere to be seen.
Now in no way do I enjoy disaster but I will confess that it’s times like these that my husband really shines. He’s smart. He knows how things work and he knows the steps to take to keep us safe and cared for. He reminded us that we had hot water since the water heater is heated by gas and our gas supply was fine. He turned the water heater thermostat up and he and I had showers. We left the door open so some of the steamy air would warm the house. The family commenced snuggling. Jason did crosswords. The kids all put on layers of clothes. Paul did word searches. We watched the numbers drop on our digital thermostat. Sixty-four degrees. Not the end of the world. Jason took the giant water jug we use for drinking water when we go camping and filled it with hot water. He placed it in the middle of the living room and said, “There. Put your hands on that.” It worked like a giant hot water bottle. The kids laughed, put their stocking feet on it and the little boys hugged it. We stayed in. Nobody complained.
Grammy called. They didn't have power but they had the wood stove going and their house was plenty warm. She was boiling eggs and potatoes on the wood stove and our Christmas Eve dinner was to include potato salad and brisket that Grampy was smoking in his new smoker. Alas, no Christmas cookies even though her fridge was full of four kinds of dough, ready to go.
Dinner time came and we decided to venture out. After picnicking all day, we needed some hot food in our bellies. We drove down dim streets, swerving to avoid branches in the road, looking for anyplace that had lights on. Even McDonald’s was dark. As we neared the edge of town, we found Steak ‘n Shake. It was lit and packed. Not good news for a family of six. The service was terrible but I kind of expected that considering the number of customers in the restaurant. Our table was overlooked twice as smaller families that came in after us were served. I finally caught the eye of a young waitress who rushed right over surprised that we’d been ignored. She turned out to be a gem. She and Tes got talking about fangirling and Tumblr and their favorite shows. Before we left, Tes shared her Tumblr address and the waitress promised to follow her. It made Tes’ day.
It was still early and we needed a few groceries. I also had to finish some Christmas shopping. Target run! We split up, girls and boys, with Jason in charge of groceries and me in charge of Christmas necessities. It took a few hours but it was warm and it killed time. It was a bit of a game as Tesia and I filled our cart w/ Christmas while trying to avoid the boys elsewhere in the store. A couple of times we would spot them and then have to double back and hide for a minute until we felt safe moving on. By the time we finished, everybody was tired enough that we were ready to go back to what we expected might be a cold, dark house just so we could go to bed.
The drive home was a little scary. We'd pass some stores and homes that were alive with power and then another street over, everything would be suddenly dark. What would be waiting for us at home? We drove through the brightly lit intersection near our home and then – utter darkness. No drama here. It was really dark. The only light in the streets was from the headlights of cars. When we pulled into the driveway, Jason asked if I had some candles in the house. This is the part of the story that brought me a silly little spark of joy… Last year, while shopping at Target (of course) I found a lovely scented candle called “White Sand Oasis”. It was a little pricey but I really loved the scent and so I bought one of the large jar candles knowing that every time I placed it on my candle warmer, the scent would fill the house and it would be a little piece of *happy* in my day. Toward the end of the season, the same candle went on clearance! I bought another large jar candle and four smaller ones at half price and stashed them away, a little treat for me to pull out on days when I needed a pick-me-up. Now Jason was asking me if I had candles. I did. Lots of little White Sand Oasis candles! We lit them in the house and that wonderful scent was everywhere. It was freezing but we had steakburgers in our tummies, milk on the deck, Christmas in the trunk of my SUV and one of my favorite scents floating through the house courtesy of the little glowing candles in each room. It wasn't so bad.
Jason pulled out the camping sleeping bags and Erick and Paul got cozied up in their room. Tes and Caleb took the couch in the living room and got bundled up in another sleeping bag and four blankets. We settled in for the night.
In the morning, nothing had changed except that the house was colder. It felt like mornings at the lake in the spring and fall except that there was nothing hot to drink. I gulped down a bottle of Starbucks frappuccino – a little fuel for Mommy. I started to unpack the dry goods Jason had purchased and had a little laugh at some of the “junk” I wouldn't normally buy: sandwich cookies, graham crackers, Cheez-its, animal crackers and breakfast cereal. I never buy breakfast cereal. He’d also chosen a 1 lb. “barrel” of cheese balls and all of the remaining Land o’ Lakes mint flavored cocoa in the store (six packets). I had been lamenting earlier in the season that the new variety pack lacked this flavor. Talk about first world problems.
Tonight the boys would be going to Grammy’s to spend the night but we still had to get through the day “power-free”. We took hot showers and for the first time in anyone’s memory, Erick remembered to close the door when Jason was in the shower and Jason hollered at him to leave it open so the warmth would spread a little through the house. The water heater was producing steaming hot water so I made hot cocoa for the kids straight from the tap. After showers, Jason left the water running and attempted to fan warm air into the rest of the house. We stood in front of the thermostat and cheered as we watched the numbers go from 52 to 53 to 54 degrees. We played Apples to Apples and Caleb took turns being on someone’s team. It’s always fun to play to the dealer and I had a small victory when I chose “meatballs” for the green apple card labeled “silky” just because I knew Paul really likes meatballs. Tes gave us an impromptu “power outage fashion show”. She was wearing a hoodie, over another hoodie, over a sweater along with three pair of socks, fleece pants, boots and a beanie. She was still able to strut her stuff. Every single one of us unthinkingly tried to switch on the light in the bathroom at least once that day.
We packed the boys and went to Grammy’s. A battery powered radio was playing in the kitchen and an analog clock had been moved to the counter. She told us about how the living room had been too hot the night before. They “suffered” the mixed blessing of no electricity but plenty of heat from their wood stove. On the way home, we stopped to shop for one last gift that had eluded us and found it. Yay! A pearl of anxiety sat in my belly as we headed home – and found that our power was back on! A mere 44 hours (give or take) and we were glowing again! I immediately put my phone on the charger and ran the (stinky) dishwasher. I’d been holding out and praying that the power would be restored before I’d had to resort to hand washing. Tes got to work taking care of some last minute Christmas details by electric light.
The next morning, Tes and I sneaked out to pick up a forgotten purchase at Target (I know, I know!) and get the groceries we’d need for Christmas breakfast and dinner. We went home to a nice, warm house that we no longer took for granted. I showered and started browning the sausage for tomorrow’s breakfast. The plan was to spend Christmas morning in the living room with my family instead of alone in the kitchen. I unloaded the dishwasher, brewed a delicious, hot pot of coffee, dressed and started packing up the gifts to go to Grammy’s house. Jason was shaving when the lights flickered and went out and power was gone. Again. At least the sausage was cooked. I poured the coffee into three thermal cups (one for Grampy) and we went over to celebrate Christmas Eve.
The happy ending to the story is that we had power again when we came home after the vigil Mass on Christmas Eve. Christmas day, I was able to use the oven to bake cinnamon rolls and breakfast enchiladas and the Crock-Pot to make meatball subs. The day was merry and warm in more ways than one.
Some of our friends and family weren't so fortunate. My parents were without power for nine days which caused some serious issues with my mom’s home business. Lots of people without power joined others who did have power but that meant hosting or spending Christmas with unexpected guests – which can be uncomfortable for some. A friend of ours lost all of his tropical fish. There were stories in the paper of people driving for miles to buy generators only to have them stolen right out of their driveways. Police and other emergency workers were overwhelmed and there was at least one report of a utility worker being hospitalized after sustaining injuries resulting from a fall while repairing a downed power line.
This kind of occurrence always puts things in perspective. I started to think and remembered to be very grateful for my fantastic family who didn't complain and stuck it out. I started writing down everything that had happened from Tes’ power outage fashion show and Paul’s “silky meatballs” to the giant hot water bottle and hot cocoa made fresh from the tap. Jason had, again, secured his family. He never fails us. The kids hadn't whined even once and Tes even made a new friend. I don’t know if we would have been as chipper after nine days in the dark but I’d like to think we would have found a way. Someone at Christmas Eve Mass said, “there was no power when Jesus was born either” and I had a mom moment when I looked at my family and felt so much joy at just having them in my life. I thought about the crazy chaos the Blessed Virgin endured during her pregnancy and childbirth – the journey, the dirt, the accommodations (historical inaccuracies aside) – and she still got that divine little Son out of the deal. Just like the first Christmas, we truly recognized how our dark lives needed light and what a difference it made when that Light came.
Happy New Year.
