Monday, November 7, 2011

Storm Alfred, Part 1

Yes, Storm Alfred was coming. Now don't get me wrong, this is New England, the issue was not a snowstorm in the fall. That's happened before, not a problem. The issue was the fact that there was the potential of several inches of wet, heavy snow that was going to be falling on trees that hadn't yet lost all of their fall leaves. All of this was also supposed to be accompanied by some strong winds as well, which was cause for a little concern. The concern was that it could bring some power lines down.
Well, as I stated in my last post, I was hoping to get to the mall for a little bit Saturday afternoon, but once the sleet started, I changed my mind. If I took longer in the mall than expected who knows what I would have come out to find as I tried to make my way back home. I'm not a fan of trying to drive on slick roads. Since I was already over by the mall, I just decided to head to the Chinese restaurant over that way so I could get my staple sweet and sour chicken. I was also looking forward to this specific restaurant so I could get some pineapple bubble tea with rainbow jelly! As I was inside waiting for my food, I checked Facebook and saw people commenting on the snow coming down with huge snow flakes. I looked out the window and there was just the same little bit of sleet. I looked out just a few minutes later and there were those big, huge snowflakes everyone was talking about. Those flakes were really starting to come down. By the time I got out to my car there was a pretty good little coating on it. I carefully drove home through the snow, enjoying the beauty of seeing it, not necessarily driving in it.

I made it home safely, got the cover put on the car, went inside to eat our delicious dinner, and then sat back to see what this storm would bring. Would it be as bad as they said? Between 4 and 5 that afternoon the lights went out. OK, maybe they were at least right about some power outages. I gathered together the candles, lighters, flashlights, batteries, and lanterns...just in case. It was starting to get dark and who knows how long the power would be out. Maybe it was somewhere around this time that my senses started to become truly heightened. As it started to get dark, I started lighting the candles on the mantle in the living room. I love the look of candlelight, especially when it's dark. Along with the beauty of the candles came the awesome smells from some of them that filled the house. As night came on and it started getting a little chillier in the house, we got bundled up in our pj's, blankets, gloves, etc. I got mom's radio out of her room and put it on talk radio so we could keep up with what was going on. As we sat there listening to the host of the talk radio station and the people calling in, we saw a few flashes of light. I figured it must have been a transformer that was sparking-though I'm sure some of those flashes may have been from a transformer-not long after a couple of flashes, I also heard some thunder...snow thunder. So, as we sat there watching the candlelight flickering in the room, smelling the wonderful smell of the candles, listening to the sound of the radio, bundled up to keep from getting too cold, we saw flashes possibly from transformers, and flashes of lightning and heard snow thunder. Later that night mom was needing her daily fix of ice cream even though she was quite cold. I figured we may as well indulge ourselves with some, just in case power didn't come back on...it would have melted anyway. So we had a little ice cream. As I took Bella out to go to the bathroom before bed, there were a few good inches of snow on the ground. It was a little hard for her to get through, so thankfully we didn't stay out for long. I was a little nervous about the lightning and possible sparking transformers, so I hoped and prayed she would be quick. Once I got mom her medicine, and put her and Bella to bed, wrapped up with covers and blankets galore, I went back to blow out the candles around the house and get to bed myself. I finally got to bed, but it wasn't the peaceful sleep I was expecting that night. It had nothing to do with the cold, because once I was under my comforter and blankets with my sweatshirt on, I was fine. No, what kept me awake were the sounds I kept hearing throughout the night. As I put my head on the pillow, I kept waking up to cracking sounds, sounds of tree limbs breaking off of trees. It's hard to explain the actual craziness of the sounds, especially when they were just so constant, and seemed so close. Quite a few times during the night I would jump up to check and make sure none of them were coming down on or too near our house. We have a few trees in the backyard. Mom's bedroom is on that side of the house, so I had to check to make sure they would be safe. At one point in the night I did see a decent sized limb that fell in the backyard, but it was farther back, thankfully just missing our shed. What a wild night! Never have I experienced anything quite like that. I could only imagine what daybreak would bring...
Lord, you already knew all along what was going to happen with this storm. What a comfort, peace, and blessing to know that no matter how crazy things were all around us, you were watching over us and in control, protecting us the whole time. Help me to remember that even in other areas of my life...you are in control, you protect and you care. Thank you!

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