Be Prepared

Photo Credit: Joe Zentner

Winter storm Jonas is on his way. Here in Seagrove we are expecting a mix of snow and ice. Here at 505 E Main we are about as prepared as we can be. Groceries were bought, battery supply looks good, and there are always lots of candles around here. The plus side of this house: town water. If we lose power (and the pipes don't freeze) our toilets will still flush. Downside: we have a heat pump, no power = cold. There is a fireplace here, but we haven't had it inspected and won't use it until that happens. I would rather not burn the house down. On the plus side, we do have a kerosene heater that we can turn on in the studio to keep clay from freezing. Worse comes to worse we can go in there to warm up! It's good to be prepared, and perhaps the storm pattern will change and it won't be as bad as predicted.

The photo is from the 2008 ice storm in New Hampshire. Now that was a colossal storm and you may remember, from past posts, it also occurred the week that John died. I was so out of touch with the outside world that I wasn't prepared at all. Danielle came just before the storm to stay with us. We lost power in the early evening. There were oxygen tanks in the house, so candles were out of the question. We conserved our flashlight batteries as best we could. 24 hours later, and still without power, John left this earth. The roads were barely passable, and hospice was unable to come and be with us. It was two more days before the power was back in my apartment. Some of my neighbors weren't so lucky and still had no power two weeks later. I walked through the neighborhood on the warm Christmas eve and could still hear the constant hum of generators. 

Forecasts of impending ice storms bring the memories of that time back to the surface. But this time I am prepared and I know that we will weather the storm.