Wild Weather

Perhaps you are tired of reading about the weather in New Hampshire. Perhaps I am tired of having such bizarre weather to write about. Yes, I think that is very likely.

Just past midnight Friday morning, I awoke to darkness. Not the usual darkness invaded by glowing clock displays and perhaps a neighbor's porch light, but the darkness that says, "Oh, great, another power outage." Heavy rains and strong winds had knocked out power in much of the state.

William woke up soon after because he had to go to the bathroom. He called up the stairs because he couldn't see to go to the bathroom and needed a flashlight. I went down and found him one, found another LED flashlight that would stay on all night, grabbed my watch and set an alarm for 5:00, then went back to bed. I didn't sleep well, but I did get up and ready in time for work.

But by the time I had reached the south end of Milton, I heard on the radio that my shift had been cancelled, and I turned back to help Karen get herself ready for work. No cancellation for her; even if Rochester had lost power, Lowes has generators so that they can be open.

The boys and I (Thomas had a scheduled day off) spent the day trying to find things to do without power (much easier for William, an avid reader, than Danny, who hasn't got the hang of reading yet, though he did find building with Legos to be a great distraction), and discovering sources of water for flushing toilets, as without electricity we do not have running water. We also don't have heat, but the air wasn't that cold and the house is very well insulated.

The power, much to my surprise, came on around 3:00 in the afternoon, a tribute to the line crews. We got the place heated up, and enjoyed a bit of electric-powered entertainment, although we didn't change our plans for eating out for dinner. Karen came home to a nice warm house and our electric mattress pad, and we had a good night's sleep.

Then we woke up this morning, getting ready for another work day for Karen, and looked outside. Three or four inches of snow greeted up, and my first order of the day, before even eating, was to go out and shovel a path for Karen's car. Are we having fun yet?

The boys, on the other hand, did have fun today, attending a pool party. No, not billiards, an actual swimming pool, indoors of course. It is a strange feeling sitting in a steaming hot pool house, watching my children swim, and looking out at fat, swirling snowflakes.

More snow coming for the next couple of days. I hope this doesn't mean another snow day; it would cause many logistical problems. Then we finally seem to be getting a break with some mostly sunny and not very cold weather.

Which is still weirder, as Spring is still three weeks away, and even the beginning of Spring around here usually has a number of cold stormy days in its future. I don't know what to expect. So I just stop expecting.