Cleaning Up the Mess

I only cried for about a minute. I just needed the emotional release and it was over as quickly and unexpectedly as it started. With a deep breath, I looked around to figure out how I could get my morning cup of tea. The woodstove was the likely method of heating up the water, but would it really get it boiling? Well, I would find out soon enough. I opened up the flu, added some more smaller logs to get the stove burning hot and put some water into a small pot. I didn't want to use my regular kettle as the handle has a rubbery covering on it and I was worried the heat from the wood stove would melt it. It wasn't long before the water reached a rolling boil--perfect for tea. :-) I was set! If I can have my morning cup of tea, I can face whatever the day brings.

I dug a ginger scone out of the freezer, wrapped that up in aluminum foil and placed it on top of the stove to heat it up. That didn't go as well as the tea--the bottom of the scone burned pretty quickly. Oops! It was still good enough to be a go-with for the cup of tea, though. Playing with cooking on the wood stove during this power outage, I figured out that to heat up scones or muffins, it was best to get a rack out of the oven, put that on top of the wood stove, then put the foil wrapped treat on the rack. That way it warmed up but didn't burn...as long as I remembered to turn it and keep an eye on it.

After the tea and scone, I went back outside. I noticed a few of the neighbors out in the street, so I walked back out there to see what was going on. The men were getting their chain saws out and started cutting up the trees and limbs that were blocking the street. I grabbed the cut up pieces and dragged them off to the side of the road. Some of the older kids came out and helped me with the debris removal while the men handled the chain saws. We had to be careful, as there were still limbs crashing down. But, it wasn't long before the road was cleared enough for a car to get through. There was still an obstacle course for the cars to weave around, but it was passable. I didn't even consider venturing out, though. If I went out and something happened to prevent me getting back, who would take care of all the animals?!

I spent the rest of that first day cleaning stalls, and starting to remove the debris from the paddocks. Mostly what I did was get as much off the fence as I could. I used a hand saw to cut up what I could and tried to clean up what I could. I also took the dogs for a walk as far as I dared to go up the street, trying to find a spot where I could get signal on my cell phone. No luck with that.

The most heartbreaking loss is my little Hawthorne tree. :-( I planted that little tree the first year after I moved here, 7 years ago. It's spring flowers aren't much, but the berries in winter are so beautiful. And, in January,when the berries completely ripen, the birds come and eat them in one day. It has such a pretty shape. In the pic, it looks like it's a weeping variety but that's just because of the weight of the ice. The branches are supposed to be arching upwards, not drooping down. I will get a new one in the spring. For now, I just pruned off the branches that have snapped and will leave the rest there for the berries to ripen for the birds.

The worst thing that first day was that after dark, there wasn't anything to do. I had no batteries for the radio. Candles did not provide enough light to read and I didn't want to drain the batteries by using the flashlight. I needed that flashlight to be able to go out to give the horses their bed check hay. No phone. The dogs and cats, while cute and good company are not very good at holding their end of a conversation. So, I took the opportunity to do some meditation and some yoga...in the dark. :-) I have gotten out of the habit of meditation and this was a good reminder for me. I have promised myself that I will make the time to meditate even if only for 5 minutes day. Just a few minutes sitting in the quiet, focusing on my breathing and nothing else. A good way to center myself and focus my energy for the day. Some good comes out of the disaster.