The 18-Hour Siege

Horror of Horrors

I forgot to turn the dishwasher on

before I went to bed.

Is that your worst nightmare

to have a dishwasher full of

dirty dishes when the power goes off?

It’s 1:30 AM; the wind just picked up per predictions.

I need to remember to turn the dishwasher on

first thing in the morning, I think.

What if the power is off in the morning?

There is NO question about it.  It will be off.

Things much smaller than East Winds

knock our power out frequently.

We’ve had years of East Wind Experience.

One time in Farmington in about 1964

my mother got the shock of her life

when she saw a wheelbarrow fly across our patio

about 4 feet in the air.

It wasn’t ours.

Clouds hanging on the mountains warn of East Winds.  Note the tree that blocks the mountain range and shades our garden.

So I tread downstairs and turn the dishwasher on

then lie for an hour while the winds howl--

banging, clunking, hitting objects against the house--

hoping against hope the power doesn’t go off

until the dishwasher is finished.

Ed stays in bed as long as possible.

He’s very angry the power is out

and he can’t watch his programs

or listen to his music.

Ed in bed to stay warm.

DeRay, why is there no water in the toilets?

They don’t run on electricity.

Did the wind suck the water out?

The Great East Winds topped our Conifers

Good Luck or Bad Luck?

We moved the utility trailer yesterday

readying the space to park Amy’s old car.

DeRay decided to wait to park it

until he got the oil changed and filled it with gas.

Right where it would have been parked

the top third of three 70-foot conifers crashed.

It would have been totaled.

The treetops scraped the side and rear of the van.

Shingles scraping across the hood

on both the van and Cavalier

did minor damage.

Nevertheless, in auto repair,

there is no minor damage.

Dents and scrapes are costly.

“I wish Amy hadn’t gone to work,” I say to DeRay

as I come downstairs after a sleepless night

“She does too,” he replied.

“A flying garbage can hit her car on Legacy Highway.”

Front fender, driver’s door, bumper, signal light, headlight;

And sadly, the mud guards she paid extra for shattered.

She bought the car last Friday.

The shingles are blowing off our roof.

This is going to be an expensive wind.

Whoops, there goes some aluminum siding.

I put soup on the fireplace to heat up;

Water to boil for herbal tea.

Ed is still in bed – warm.

Grey is the new roof; black is the old roof.  More old than new.

 I’m glad we’re not on Lake Powell.

I don’t know how long this house will stand.

It feels like it’s going to blow to smithereens.

9:42 AM

My clothes line just snapped.

We have watched four big trees blow down

at the Dennys across the street.

Two conifers and two Coronado Lindens.

Dennys across the street.

Two more on this side.

 This raging gale is getting on my nerves.

Lo-caw

Saum-aus-da

Suki-no

Bauv-on-to

Oooohhhmmmm.

I’m still tense.

Message Mix-up

DeRay prayed to get rid of his shingles.

And the shingles on our house fly away.

We divined the 80’ high tree on the north

shading our garden and dropping trash on our lawn

to blow away.

Mighty trees all around it tumbled.

It stands, unscathed.

(Well, one limb fell and crushed our peach tree.)

We could have collected insurance money

if Amy’s Cavalier had been totaled;

Instead a flying garbage can damaged her new car.

What is going on here?  Are we not clear?

And our newspaper didn’t get delivered

or it blew to Timbuktu.

While DeRay is at the Insurance Office,

I go down in the basement

and step in water.

I pick up about 15 carpet squares.

I don’t know where the water is coming from.

“Now we’re getting our basement flooded,”

I whine to Eddy.

“Last time we had that the Ward helped.

That sure made my day.”

Our basement always has to steal the show.

Whenever we have one problem,

it draws attention unto itself

by sucking water in.

Always a different trick.

It turned out to be a leaking filter

so when DeRay gets home,

he turns the water off.

Now we are without electricity and water.

Great.

“Too bad we’re not out of town,” Ed says.

“I’m glad we’re here to protect our stuff.”

(Although there is nothing we can do but let it rip.)

“I’m not,” Ed says, “it’s so boring.”

My first bit of news is when I venture out after noon

to look over the damage.

Karen Roylance tells me the power company says

the power may be off for 48 hours.

Ed reminds us it will get dark early.

“Expects gusts until 10 PM.”

“Wind gusts at 105 mph.”

The Strader home was the most damaged in our neighborhood.  Garage door went through the back window.

Larry Dorius estate on Fairfield

Institute at DATC

As I take pictures,

I hear chain saws already.

I’m surprised I don’t hear a lawnmower,

this is such a meticulous neighborhood.

Some.  Not all.

Not us.

 It’s so vastly quiet.

Eerie.

Now the wind has died down.

No TV.  No telephone.  No dishwasher.

No washer or dryer.  No vacuum.

No beeps, buzzes, squawks, dings, rings.

Just eerie silence

Our ears are not accustomed to stillness.

Except I still have the vibrating ring in my deaf ear.

I wish the power company could fix it.

I think I’ll call them.

Wait!

No telephone.

Cell phone?

I must conserve my battery.

3:30 PM

No mail.

No power.

Are we going to lose everything in the freezers?

I’m a little bored myself.

I could exercise.

I’ve got my i-Pod

but I don’t feel like it.

It will be dark in an hour.

I’ll read.

DeRay started the generator

so we can power the fridge and freezer for an hour or so.

Then he ran to town to buy a replacement filter

to try to fix the basement leak;

also, some oil for our lamps and a chimney

that broke but never was replaced.

and kerosene for the lantern.

Silly us.

Rows and rows of empty shelves

where emergency supplies were just yesterday.

He did get the filter fixed.

Water by 10:30 PM.

Yeah DeRay!

After watching the news,

my sister Shirley called to see if we survived.

“We got our Christmas shopping done,” I brag.

“We thought we were only getting four new tires

on Ed’s car for $650  for Christmas.

Our gifts have expanded:

$1000 deductible for house repairs.

$250 deductible for the van.

$250 deductible for the Cavalier.

Guess we can’t claim the $250 deductible

Amy will have to pay to get her car repaired.

$1,500 Christmas right there.

And then there will be $60 to replace the vents on the trailer.

not covered on house insurance either.

This may be our biggest Christmas ever!”

I think Shirley was impressed

knowing how much we are giving each other

for Christmas.

And we didn’t have to step foot in a store

or surf the Internet.

Without a c-pap machine, DeRay can’t sleep;

Without electricity, the c-pap machine doesn’t work.

Why do you think he was up at 5 AM this morning?

So he prepared to sleep sitting up in front of the fire.

Ed and I piled extra blankets on our beds

and went up to cold bedrooms.

Amy has a gas stove in her bedroom.

At 11:07, the power came one.

An 18-hour siege.

HALLELUJAH, Ed shouts from his bed.

Walking down the warm stairs this morning

With light to see and running water,

I feel the sweetness of rebirth that comes

after mayhem briefly altered our frail existence.

 Now, I must go gather shingles and debris

off the porch and lawns,

at bare minimum.
*
The Cleanup

RaJean's sister and her husband from Morgan cut up their 80' foot fallen tree for firewood.  Then they came over and cut up ours.  Imagine!   Still suffering with the shingles, DeRay could never have done it.  Maybe next spring; maybe not. Dennys picked up and hauled the branches away - after they single handedly (with the help of their son) did their own four trees.  Last night while I was picking up shingles, Kathi walked over and helped me.  Wonderful neighbors.

Fjeldsted's sidewalk after they removed the tree.

High Winds are expected this evening.  We may have been the only Ward in Davis County to hold all 3 hours of church today, only letting out a little early because the power went off.  I think it was because of Eddy.  Everyone else cancelled church to cleanup.

Our Circle, Sunday, December 4, 2011

 

The Butchers

 Nicholls Road - Drop off point

A home on Green that was built with no east windows about 40 years ago.