dennis
This morning of eleven o' seven I am listening to the sounds of bulldozing machinery around the street bend. They're coming for the debris. It's a familar sound just like the year before. You can hear it for a few days around the neighborhood but it's especially loud when it's only a street away. It was four weeks ago when I was running up and down the street from my Uncle's house to mine. He lives 2 houses and the around the corner from mine. I was running to take care of something or wanted to do something extra. Believe it or not, the first time was to wash my hair in my own bathroom and of course to check on the dogs. The second, I needed to fill up the tub with water just in case there was a boil restriction (so I could give water to my pets) or the water was cut off and I couldn't flush the toilets. But those matters were important for later. So between the shuttling back and forth, the winds were starting to blow strong and trying to invert my green and white golf umbrella. The hurricane was coming 4 hours later. I had been in prep mode for days.
Starting Wednesday earlier that week, I was starting to feel anxiety. There I was home alone while mum was off to North Carolina / Canada / Chicago/ Canada / North Carolina. News was all about the approaching storm. I started to eat less, sleep less, worry more. Around Thursday evening, my Aunt called to invite me to spend the night at their place. They seemed to take care of me in small, meaningful ways the past month and a half. Like sharing 3 sticks of beef shiskabobs and slice of apple pie on 4th of July weekend and phonecalls just to check up. I celebrated with images of fireworks in my mind and turkey hotdogs (on lite wheat buns) that were boiled in a pot on the stove. I like being home alone for the most part; I hate having to deal with things this big by myself.
I was doing a fill it in puzzle in my cousin's (once occupied) bedroom when the electricity went out at 2:50 pm. I wrote down the time at the top corner of a page. A few minutes later, I joined my Aunt, Uncle and other cousin in the hallway when the wind started to get bad. We gathered around a handheld sports radio. Debris was hitting the house, and the wind's circular motion was at it's 100 plus mile per hour top speed. Shortly after, the voice on the radio announced the storm's eye was now located 2 streets away from the house I was hiding out in. The storm was over quickly. I went home the next morning. I heard stirring within the house and a few minutes later I was dressed to leave with my duffle bag already in hand. I caught my aunt and uncle by surprise when I spoke with them outside. They were already starting yard work. I had yet to see my own house. I think they expected me to stay until my mum returned home or at the very least, to eat breakfast.
I knew I had a lot of clean up ahead. My dogs were more than happy upon my arrival. They grayed a few more hairs over the night from their own anxiety. I cleaned out the refrigerator & freezers, swept the carport / porch / driveway, raked and bagged leaves. Then I hauled debris to the curb. Over the next few days I hand sawed 5 trees. Hauled to the curb. Sawed, gathered, hauled, saw, gathered, hauled. Collectively, my debris span stretched 56 feet (7 meters) along the front of my gate and slightly over 5 feet tall. I could only stack as high as my heighth. I didn't want to complain entirely. My clean up was much arduous the year before.
I walked away with a few battle scars. Some of those branches put up a good fight. My arms were scratched, bitten, bloodied. A bite on my right elbow swelled up the size of a golf ball. I debated working out in the peak UV hours. My skin was deep frying in the heat. I'm not sure how well that sports sunscreen held up seeing as I sweated the second I walked out the door. In the end finishing the clean up won out over a little sun damage. My skin and hair were dry for a week following.
Evenings and nights seemed to drag. If I don't have to take another cold, romantic candle lit shower, it would be too soon. A few wax splashes here and there. Grabbing for flashlights in the dark. Seeing my neighbor across the street moving through her house with a flashlight was strange too. Before it would get dark, I'd have to sit by the window to read. If a candle was lit, it only made the room hotter. There were more than a few times I was strolling around the house in my underwear. Around seven o'clock, I'd turn on the Walkman to listen to tv shows I couldn't watch.
I lost a few pounds. Partly from working hard outside. Partly from not eating. I was on a peanut butter and jelly diet. I was too lazy to fight traffic in town to get food. I ended up eating at home. By Thursday, I was so weak that when my sister called on the phone she said I sounded like I was hot. Really, I was so weak from not eating properly and taking care of myself. Also that day I had heard that the Power company had most of their customers' power up except 17%. I was that miserable seventeen. It was frustrating hearing the news that hundreds of thousands of people were getting their power, and I wasn't. Most of my town had it. But along the highway, there was a big sign on a utility pole that read my neighborhood had "no power". I'm guessing this was a note for the power crew teams. The worst areas hit were the last ones to have power restored.
On Friday, my sister arrived. She got to experience what I had being going through all week. Friday night, still no power. Mum kept calling to see if the electricity came back on. She had a lot of food that needed refrigeration and her flight arrived on Monday. Saturday, no power. That is until I went out for a while and came home in the evening and the kitchen light that I left on was now on.
I made it through those seven days in this peak of summer. You don't appreciate electricity unless you're without it for a while. It's nice to have the light on in the bathroom, to keep food in a refrigerator, to have air conditioning, internet access. It's especially nice to lie on the couch with my clothes on, watching Big Brother on tv instead of having to listen to it in the dark over a headset.
