But this week, we did have interesting weather. Kurt was very excited when last year we got a bit of hail because it was the first time he remembers seeing it. On Tuesday, we were on our way home from the doctor's office when it started to hail -- and this time it wasn't the tiny hailstones we're used to getting. These weren't quite as big as a golf ball, but they weren't small either.
Once we got home, I turned on the news and saw that the radar for the area was almost completely orange with some red, meaning that we were supposed to get hammered with rain. A twister had already been spotted up near the Canadian border, so we were ready for a good storm. We got some rain, but then it seemed to clear up. Everything was pretty calm by the time I finished making dinner right around 6pm, and then the power went out.
Kurt joked with me, "Oh, no! Now we have have to talk to one another!!" After we finished dinner, we sat on the couch and read the paper, and Kurt realized how much he depends on electricity. He kept looking up at the cable box to see what time it was so he wouldn't miss Jeopardy! Of course, with no power, the cable box was blank and he certainly wasn't going to watch Jeopardy.
Then J came over to tell us to get our shoes on because a tree had fallen on a house down the street, and she wanted to go be nosy.
Fortunately, it looked as if just the top part of the tree was laying on the garage roof, thereby minimizing the damage. Also, since no one was home in the house at the time, there was no chance that anyone got hurt. But can you imagine coming home from work after a long day to find a tree laying on your house? I felt so bad for the people, especially because they're trying to sell that house.
The truck in front of their house didn't fare as well as their home:
And since a tree falling on your truck is probably covered under the "act of God" clause, insurance would most likely not cover something like that.
What made a lot of people in our neighborhood nervous about the tree falling on the house is the tree brought down the power lines to the house as it fell, so there were loose, dangling power lines. If the power had come back on at that point, it could have started a fire. A lot of neighbors came down the street to investigate and brought their kids, and what amazed me is they let their kids walk all over the front yard without regard to the downed power lines! First off, that's someone's home, so you should respect that and not walk all over the front yard in any situation. But then, when there's something as dangerous as downed power lines that could start carrying household current at any moment, I would think that would be a huge incentive to keep the kids off the lawn! Unless, of course, a parent wouldn't mind seeing their kid barbequed in front of them. *sigh*
The power was out all Tuesday night. We ended up over at our friend T's house, visiting with her and her husband, because what else is there to do when the power's out but talk to one another?? We kept her company till her husband got home, and then we just kept chatting. Once we got home at 10pm, it was about time to go to bed since Kurt had to go to work the next morning.
I woke up at 7:45am when the power came back on -- but it was just a teaser, and it flickered back off again. I started to worry about the stuff in my freezer, and I was also concerned because I had yet to schedule online payments for both my mortgage payment and my credit card, due on the first of the month. We had no idea when power was going to be restored either, but fortunately Kurt has internet access at work, so that was taken care of.
I was never bored, however, with the power off. I love to read, so I got out my library book and dove right into it. That kept me occupied for most of the morning. I didn't eat breakfast just because we had no way of making anything decent to eat without power. Our stove is electric, so I couldn't cook, and I really didn't want to keep opening the fridge to prevent the food from spoiling as much as possible. I ate a sandwich for lunch, but not long after I finished, the power came back on -- but again, just for a moment. But the power was completely restored by 1:45pm -- thankfully!! I was just excited to not have to worry about the stuff in my freezer anymore! :o)
Plus it's nice to be able to use the computer again! :o)