A Mighty Wind

Last Sunday, hurricane Ike and a cold front collided west of us and created a monster wind storm. 40 - 84 MPH winds blew through for over 4 hours. It was amazing. While I was at the fabric store, the electricity started going off and on which meant the computerized cash register was having to constantly boot up. I decided I didn't need what I had in hand and high tailed it home. Our street already had a tree hanging in the wires that I needed to skirt. I knew our power was going to be out. Sure enough I had to dig for house keys that I never use since I always come in through the garage with the automatic opener. As the afternoon drew to a close, I gathered the necessary candles, matches and lantern. Raked off the driveway and patio of sticks, leaves and branches, got a good portion of 'Eat, Pray, Love' read for our next book club, opened the windows and went to bed.














Mon. we still did not have power. Well, what a lovely way to spend the day stitching on Hands to Work 'Harvest Blooms'. Evening came and my daughter's employer came by with ice and a radio to keep me company since my DH was in Miami missing the fun. Put some thought into 'what if....' the power was not on by Tues. It wasn't. By afternoon the freezer food would be done for. So, I got out the canning equipment and fired up our propane stove (thank goodness I insisted on a gas stove when we built this house). A friend had supplied me with pounds and pounds of concord grapes that I had stemmed and frozen for future use. The future was NOW. They were beginning to defrost. I spent the day canning 20 pints of grape jam. At one point, there was a foray for more sugar, ice and batteries. A ten minute trip was now a half hour avoiding all the road blocks from downed trees and power lines and finding stores that were open and supplied. It was a long day. The last batch was done by lantern light.


Wed. morning and still no power. What was left in the freezer - cherries that could be made into jam also. Got started on those and cleaning out the refrigerator and the rest of the perishable things from the freezer. 12 pints later and two garbage cans full a weird sound filled the air. ELECTRICITY! Whoo Hoo! What a sweet sound. DH and son managed to clean up the rest of the yard over the weekend and things are back to normal in our house. There are still some people without power. Piles of wood and brush are stacked in almost every yard. What a reminder of the power of nature. God bless the people in Texas that felt this hurricane full strength.