Ike reaches Ohio

I'm sure this post will induce eye-rolls from anyone living in Florida, the Carolina coasts, Texas, Louisiana...

But around these parts, we've never seen wind like this.

Sunday morning's weather report warned of a high wind advisory for the afternoon. And the winds rolled in around 3 maybe. We had just returned from our trip to the library, and Henry was settling in with a DVD he had borrowed.

A small branch fell from our tree, and the little tykes basketball hoop blew over. The strange thing was that there was no rain accompanying the wind, so we kept going outside to check things out. ("These are sure some high winds!") I was all geeked out about all the pinecones that had fallen in the backyard, and Tommy and I were heading out to collect them, when Bill said "I don't like the way those trees are swaying. I think it's dangerous for you guys to be outside." I rolled my eyes and we came in.

30 seconds later we heard a thump, and looked out the back window to see this:

That's when the power went out. Poor Henry just cannot deal when the electricity is out. Never mind that he normally spends lots of time doing puzzles or reading books. Those activities just will not pacify him when he has a movie he wants to watch.

Tommy, on the other hand, thought the whole thing was a great adventure.

I don't think that Bill and I conveyed too much worry, but Henry was so anxious about the electricity situation. He must have asked every 30 seconds are they coming to fix the tree that fell? Once I ran a quick errand up to the main street, and saw that trees and branches were down all over town, I knew that they wouldn't be fixing our problem too quickly.

A large branch came down from another neighbor's tree:

Every yard in our county looked like this or worse:

Yesterday and today all the schools are closed, as are many businesses. 330,000 people were without power yesterday and they are estimating that some may have to wait up to a week to have it restored. Many of the electric company employees had been sent down to Texas to help out, and are having to be called back.

Our power came back on yesterday afternoon, so we are lucky. I am laying low this morning, though, because yesterday I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Despite listening to the news, I didn't fully grasp the scope of the situation. We had no electricity, no phone (our battery backup had run out), and cell phone service was very spotty. I text messaged the kids' sitter, and she had no power either. The university I work for was not closed, so I assumed that they had power. I packed the kids up, grabbed some movies they could watch while I worked, and off we went.

We'll stop on the way to get some breakfast! I promised.

(Our house did sustain some damage to the siding. Looks like it used to be painted yellow.)

So, let's think this through together. 329,999 other people cannot make breakfast at their homes either. How crowded do you think the restaurants that ARE open are going to be? That's right- pretty damn crowded. Unfortunately, Henry and Thomas' mom did not think that through, and instead drove to Starbucks (line out the door), Tim Hortons (line out into the street), McDonalds (line out into the street stopping traffic), etc. etc.

Add in a couple other stops to places that turned out to be closed, and all the intersections that had to be treated like 4-way stops because the lights weren't working, 2 whiny kids saying "but you said we would get something to eat! I'm huuunnnggryy!" And you've got me losing my mind.

We finally found a grocery store that was open, went in and bought cookies, donuts, coffee cake and croissants!!! Henry also picked up a pack of cherry tomatoes. All the refrigerated areas were covered with sheets of plastic, so I couldn't buy any yogurt or Henry's beloved sausage links.

It's just as well, because when we finally got to my office, the power was out there too. We stayed for a few hours, which I finally realized was silly, and we came back home.

I like to think that I am a pretty rational, calm person. But this was a scary experience. If my power were really out for 7 days and there were no grocery stores, restaurants, or gas stations in operation?? What about parents of infants who need to buy and heat formula? Mother nature lets us think that we're in charge most of the time, and then gives us a little slap upside the head to remind us who's boss.