On Friday, I woke up shortly after 5am to the sight of nothing, which was the first indication that it would be an interesting day. The power was out, of course. We got out the flashlights and I turned on a battery-powered radio to WTAG, where they were having their usual morning host reporting from his cell phone on his attempt to get to work. He was describing the work crews in front of him on Rte. 56 clearing one tree just to have another fall down. It seemed like it was worst in the Paxton, Holden, and West Boylston area. West Boylston had declared a state of emergency, and that’s where I work, so I figured it would probably be fine if I didn’t go to work. If it weren’t for that on the radio, though, I would have gone in as normal. There was no sign of anything wrong around our house, other than a rainstorm. When Hannah woke up, we went next door to my parents’ place for the company and because they have a wood stove.
Around 9am on Friday, the power came back on, so I could call my boss, who told me that my work was in fact closed for the day. We couldn’t get in touch with my grandma who lives in Brookfield, so we went out to see if she was okay. Along the way, I saw just how localized the storm was. At the bottom of a hill, it was just like around our house, where things were just wet and normal. At the top of a hill, ice coated everything. And there weren’t particularly large hills, just the typical hills one has on roads around here. The damage was very localized. Since my grandma had no power or heat, we took her to stay with my parents for the weekend.
On Saturday, I judged at a PTQ in Hartford, which went very well. (I got to shadow someone though his first Head Judge of a PTQ, and we certified a new Level 1 judge.)
On Sunday, we went to church in the morning (they got power back on Friday night), and in the afternoon had my dad’s side of the family over at my parents’ house for a Christmas party.
It certainly seems like we were one of the lucky ones. I know several people who are still without power, and it’s very uncertain when they’ll get it back. But life for me, really, was only disrupted on Friday.