A tree down a few blocks away.
What they don’t tell you is how exhausting power outages are.
The storms are extreme now. On Monday night there were 70 mile-per-hour winds.
We woke up Tuesday morning to find a tree down in our back yard and wires down and snaking.
The result of global warming, as my husband says.
We live in a smallish city. You can call a tree removal company at 2 a.m. and somebody actually answers the phone. The tree company crew removed the tree, and the electrician showed up promptly to fix the wires. And then the power company guys, who were taking care of more live wires across the street, casually sauntered over and turned our power on.
Power company trucks, city trucks, and tree removal trucks were all over the neighborhood. It was like seeing a military force on the move. (Not that I’ve ever seen one.)
Thank God I don’t have to do that.
And then I slept 10 hours.
I made jokes to the neighbors, but I found it all exhausting. Aren’t whining and tears a good outlet for exhaustion, and aren’t we women allowed to complain? But now I always tell myself, I’ve been through so much worse. So I just whine online.
Mom, why did you raise us to be such Stoics?
Tonight, another power outage. Fortunately this one didn’t last long.
mirabile dictu 
Reminds me of growing up in the 1970s with constant power cuts because of strikes. Regular 3 hour cuts in the evening and reading by candlelight. You worry less as a kid but it’s a pain all the same. Hope life gets back to normal for you soon!
LikeLike
We have had a lot of storms here in Connecticut in recent years. Trees down, power out, roads blocked. I love trees but I have come to see them as beautiful but dangerous.
LikeLike
I would find it distressing. In Northern Virgina when we first moved here power outages were frequent. I was appalled: in NYC in over a hundred years we had had two. Sometime in the early 2000s these stopped; the company used computer systems to upgrade and improve. Since the weather has worsened — this week we had two very very heavy downpours — this is a relief as otherwise it would happen every day. Being alone would be yet harder.
LikeLike
Karen, that must have been DREADFUL. Power outages are always dreadful, but every evening–I cannot imagine.
Nancy, I love trees so much. The provide shade, a sort of natural air conditioning, and do all their cool synthesis stuff. But these storms are changing everything.
Ellen, how amazing that they managed to stop the power outages in VA. Perhaps some of the lines are underground now so less affected by the weather? And I’m sure the computer systems are brilliant. The outages really tax our strength. There is so much wild weather right now: tornadoes in Nebraska, a drought in California, and God knows what else…
LikeLike