Long night

Last evening was interesting. Around 5pm the 'rents and Sita came over to have some pizza. The wind had already picked up and we even had some rain. We didn't think much of the wind and rain and continued about our business of eating. At approximately 6:40pm the flickering of the lights occured. On, off, on, off, and then they settled at a weak glow....something I had never seen before. Mom ran out onto our enclosed porch and yelled, "You gotta see this!' By the time we got to the door she was running inside yelling, "There's a down wired! It could be touching your house! Grab the animals!" Complete chaos for a few moments until we realized that the down wire near our house was our cable. But up the street sure enough there was a big ol' tree and electric pole down.

I grabbed the police radio which was lighting up. It seemed like all hell was breaking loose in Sandusky for the next hour. Mom and Dad decided to leave shortly after our losing power. Sita hung out for a bit. Shell called letting us know she didn't have power but my parents did. According to two of my friends they also had power. So the power outages were obviously spotty. Sita and I hung out on the porch taking it all in. The breeze felt good and the digs were digging watching everyone...even though Viking barks at everything.

It started to get dark and Sita had to leave. With us getting closer to fall we're having less of daylight and by 8pm I had very limited light. What was I to do for 2 hours before my "bedtime?" I had no working flashlight and there wasn't enough candlelight to read a book. I sat and continued to take in the breeze on the porch and tried to catch a few winks of sleep knowing it was going to be a long night. This wasn't quite successful with Viking barking and woofing at every little thing.

10 pm rolled around and David gave me a quick call to let me know they were doing well. They had driven up to the Minnesota game and were driving through the night to get home. They hit nasty weather on the way there and on the way back. The last time they drove to Minnesota they had blizzard conditions. Maybe God's trying to tell them something.....dunno.

I decided to head up to bed, which was a total waste of time and energy. I had no white noise other than the sounds of nature. That doesn't get it. David and I both agree that at least one fan needs to be running at night, even in the middle of winter. We could hear everything outside which would set Viking off. At 11pm a neighbor had someone stop by his house. He banged on his door and no one answered, however his dog went nuts inside. The guy ended up leaving but the dogs barking ensued for the next 2 and 1/2 hours. No joke. Thankfully Viking wasn't aroused by the barking. But it made it impossible for me to sleep. It was also hot in the room. Even with the windows opened there was not enough cross ventilation. I tossed and turned catching a few moments of shut eye here and there.

At 3am I heard the trucks roll up and they stayed for awhile fixing the issue. It was kind of funny as I saw a repairman in a bucket slowly move past my bedroom window. Viking's barking continued on. They left after a good 45 minutes but I still didn't have power. I then heard the chainsaws up the street clearing the debris. Kind of scary hearing a chainsaw at 3am. Thankfully I knew why I was hearing it. At just before 4am the power kicked on. Whew! Within 15 minutes David was home and we finally got to bed. Thankfully I got at least 2 hours of sleep. And to think, I was worried about him getting sleep.

In the almost 3 years we've lived hear we've lost power countless times and twice it was due to a downed tree/pole on our street alone. Kind of scary. At least this time it was in the summer and not in the middle of winter. Even so, every minute that passes without power seems like hours.

It was a long night but I think it's going to be a long day.....