The Ice Storm – One Year Later

Laura, you asked for 12/11/08 stories. Ours began with an office party on that night. Leaving the party we found the ice 1" thick on the car. That should have been a warning of what was to come. We live in Barrington and were without power for 8 days. My husband got out of the driveway the next morning, only by driving his pick up over the downed trees! Later he returned and spent hours tethering branches and cutting down limbs, and cutting up fallen trees. Fortunately we have a wood stove, to heat our post and beam home. That saved the pipes. We kept it going 24 hr a day. The first five days we got into the routine of heating water on the gas stove, food was on the three season portch, and candles were everywhere. Bathing was impossible, though we got surprisingly good at the art of sponge bathing in a small bucket of tepid water over the tub. The big problem was the toilets. We had no running water, as we had no power. However, our land is part of an old farm, and there is still an old defunct well. My son and I trudged through the woods every day, leaning over the well and scooping ice cold water which we then carried back in big tofu buckets! I truly appreciate the laborors who carry buckets of water on yokes on their backs, for miles. We only trudged several hundred feet and my arms felt like they would fall off. But we were able to flush the toilets. With one or two showers at friends' homes, we managed not to smell too much. The quiet and the darkness however, made the biggest impression upon me. I realized how linked to technology we were! How much we rely on electricity for day to day practices and entertainment. On day 5 we got a loaner generator, and with extension cords running through the house, we had tv and a working refridgerator, and lights. We still did not have running water, but at least we did not trudge to bed at 8 or 9p.m.
I found myself thinking back to pioneer days, when daily activities were about survival first, and leisure last. In many ways the storm was a blessing, as I now appreciate what we have that much more.

I was 5 months pregnant and flying back from San Francisco through Philadelphia. My house still had power and my husband was keeping an eye on the status of my flight. It went back and forth, on time, cancelled, delayed, cancelled. Often the website and the airline staff in Philly had different information. As the night went on, I was officially stranded in Philly until Friday evening. Flying into MHT the night after the storm was eerie. There were very few lights, the earth looked abandoned. We were lucky and got power back on in a few days, but it was an unpleasant few days.

One thing I learned is to no longer have credit cards as paperless e-bills. If you lose Internet access you could be late on a bill and incur penalties.