6:00am turn on local TV morning newscasts and watch reporters report on 100mph winds in Centerville; turned over semi's on freeway; downed trees on houses, in streets and on power lines.
6:25am power flickers off and then back on.
7:30am power goes off, back on in about 5 minutes.
8:15am power goes off...stays off.
9:00am locate battery operated radio and listen to news reports.
Shower in the dark, then upstairs to give Mom her morning eye drops and discover she has been sick with her occasional tummy troubles. call work to say I'll be home on a "family" sick day.
10:00am A tour outside and I'm pleased to see all shingles still on roof and siding still on house. Also surprised to see the brittle Gamble Oak in the backyard still standing along with the Blue Spruce behind the church which Dad planted over 40 years ago. Don't know what kept the oak tree upright but the blue spruce gets no water except what Mother Nature provides so, unlike most other pine trees that got toppled in yards and golfcourses and parks, its roots must be very deep.
10:30am although they had calmed down from earlier in the morning, decided to see if cheap camera video can portray ferocity of wind. Well, kinda but not really. However, you can see there are still times its hard for me to stand up. The tall pine you can see swaying around a bit is the Blue Spruce.
You might notice the shingles on Christine's garage are peeling up. The swamp cooler cover is slowly inching upwards and a few hours later it had flown off.
I watch two pieces of soffit from the corner of patio roof blow off and the grass on the hillside lay down with each gust. Okay, this video doesn't show the grass that well either but here it is if you want. Oh, what sounds like a sick cow mooing is a noise coming through the patio roof.
By now I'm cold and the house is cooling off so I turn on the gas fireplace. No blower to circulate heat so it's more like a radiator but the chilly room is soon more bearable.
Later realized something I didn't film, but should have. It was the horrendous ruckus happening in the double garage (connected to the house) as the wind was blowing directly at the garage door. It was mesmerizing to see each panel of the garage door bend inward with each gust of wind which would also leave about a 1 to 2-inch gap between the door panels and the frame -- and a 90 mph wind makes a lot of noise coming through a small gap of space. Since then I found this short video , made by someone down in Kaysville, that gives you the general idea of what was going on up here, but more like 2X both in noise and panel movement. Oh the "green with envy" side.....wish I had 2 cars IN the garage!
noon-ish. As with most East Winds, they stop almost as quickly as they started although there are sputtering gusts that continue for the next hour or so.
1:00-ish pm. Janice arrives: "Ooh, it's warm here." She's picked up pharmacy and grocery items for Mom, shows us some pictures she's taken in her travels today and proceeds to tell us the power line to her and a neighbor's house was taken out by trees.
This is Janice's pine tree...on her neighbors garage (no damage to garage).
Different view. Janice's pine tree that fell on garage and the power pole under the tree.
4:30pm. Power comes on for 5 or 10 minutes. Goes out again.
4:45pm. Power comes on again...but only for a few minutes and then it's out again.
5:00-ish pm. Jacob came over and surveyed house, garage roofs and around yard. All shingles and such are okay.
Sun goes down. What we wish the interior looked like: (thanks to 'flash' mode on camera)
What we had instead:
"mood lighting"?
How I cooked dinner:
7:00pm. we're 21st century citizens, not go-to-bed-at-dark pioneers so we talk and find things to do around the table by lamp light. Janice plays games on laptop, I do some Nook reading.
9:15pm. power back on.
9:45pm. satisfied power is on for good (we hope), the oil lamps are extinguished. However, no cable TV or internet service--remember that 21st century comment?
10:30pm Janice and I have been up since early, early this morning so we finally call it a night.
sung to the tune of Primary song "What Do You Do In The Summer Time?"
Oh, what do you do when the power goes out
When all the world is dark?
Do you pick up a book
Or read on your Nook
By the glow of an oil lamp?
Is that what you do? So did I.
Oh what do you do when the power goes out
When all the world is dark?
Do you make s'mores in your wood stove?
Or watch shingles fly off your roof?
Is that what you do?
So did Christine.
I love your lyrics to the song at the end. Super Auntie M-ish I think. So clever!
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys were warmish.
Love your lyrics to the song too!
ReplyDeleteglad all turned out well. Loved the song, made me laugh :)
ReplyDelete