A Few Additional Details

Once the power wass back on we went on about our business. Did a load of laundry and hung it on the drying rack above the washer. Vacumned and dusted and made that pot of soup.

Started a load of wash and decided to do something with all the water I'd collected in the tub and sink. Only a fool would let it go down the drain. Water from the kitchen sink filled the dog's water dish, the HUGE roaster used as a humidifier on our wood stove and filled another large pot that I heated for dish water. I hadn't done dishes in two days!

We have four pressure cookers - all sitting empty in a bedroom closet. I filled each of those in the tub and placed them on the bathroom floor. This crappy weather is forecast to continue for a few days, so the water I've collect may come in handy. I also watered my house plants and dumped the remainder in the washer. I washed the tub with the little water that remained.

If we were to lose power long term, we'd eventually have to start the generator to run the well. Though we have a few barrels of water stored, why dip into it when I had filled the tub and sink ahead of time?

We also took a drive down our road to see what's up in the neighborhood. We found what we expected - the usual people not prepared. At the thee-way intersection 1/4 mile north of us a car was abandoned in the ditch. A truck came by while we were parked there and the driver told us he had walked home one mile the previous night in the rain and slipped a few times on the icy road. Cell phones seldom work here so he had no way to call for assistance. He had no supplies in the car and was wearing tennis shoes and had to warm his hands in his jacket pockets!!! The fool is lucky to be alive. He was headed to the local party store five miles away for a six pack!

From that intersection the remainder of our road turns into a wide two-track that was VERY icy so we turned around and headed south past our place to a four-way intersection. Here, a couple trucks were pulled to the roadside. They were neighbors from the road behind us who had crossed paths and stopped to visit. We joined in the discussion and heard lots of grumbling about them STILL not having power. One guy had gone to borrow a generator and the other had no alternate heat source so he was enroute to borrow a kerosene heater.

We came home and found our power out again for about half an hour. Oh well, time for another cup of coffee.

Well, time to check that soup pot! Treesong