Our House in the Storm

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I've just about gotten everything ready for our mini-Thanksgiving break and so have time to come up for air and make a post. 

Just about three weeks ago our area of the country was hit by an extra early snow storm - before leaves were even off the trees which caused a fair amount of trees to break and caused quite the rukus. Our street was out of power for a full week with our house just a little bit longer. 

Both my husband and I were out of town (in different directions) for the storm itself but our dearest cousin Ben was able to snap the following picture:

Joe arrived home the following afternoon to no power and a clear front door, 

thanks to the marvelous Ben! 

The night after that I arrived home with some supplies from where I had been ( where they still mostly had power). I started up the charcoal grill and stewed and steamed us up a warm supper. Thank goodness for cast iron pans! 

As I cooked Ben once again came to our rescue and connected the chimney pieces I'd brought home for the woodstove we'd bought and brought home a week or so before the storm. (How is that for providence!) 

With the woodstove and a small generator my mum found for us mid-week we made it through the full week without electricity with very little loss or even hardship. I am so thankful for the preparation we did for the hurricane (that we didn't end up needing then) and for the extra measures preparedness measures we now have. 

Living without electricity for a week definitely simplified life and allowed us to really spend time together. Our routines and life during that week evoked daydreams of frontier living and lent a satisfaction, sense of accomplishment, and hardiness we both crave in our normally-electric lives. While we were relieved when we finally had power again, there was a bit of sadness at the return to the hectic higher-speed life of modern conveniences.

I hope you all made it through the storm even half as well as we did!

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