Friday, December 15, 2006

The Storm

The winds were howling around here last night. The power went off at midnight, and just came back on this afternoon at two. We are amongst the lucky, getting it back so soon. With over a million homes without power, they are predicting days before some are restored. Out on the peninsula they have had outages up to ten days. Of course, most of those homeowners are well prepared for it, based on their past experiences. Our house got down to 56 inside. In an effort to stay warm I have many layers on - long johns, fleece pants, running socks, fleece socks, running shirt, sweatshirt, fleece pullover and a hat. Most of the time I kept the hood up on my sweatshirt too. For a while I wore shoes, but they were bugging me, so I added the fleece socks and switched back to my Birks. I'm waiting for the house to warm up enough now to shed some layers - and maybe get a shower.

We had the gas fire going, but we have open ceilings in that room so it only heated the immediate area. We made one trip to Starbucks first thing in the morning - the line there was out the front door. The Y is behind Starbucks - they had no power, but the shopping center did. Lucky for us! Later in the day Eric dug out the camp stove and we heated water for tea. I found out the power was off when my alarm went off at 4:30 for Pilates - I stumbled around in the dark till I found my cell phone and tried calling the Y. Got no answer, so I went back to bed. That was a treat!

Though some huge branches came down, we didn't lose any trees. It looks like a few dropped over the road, we saw a couple on houses or in yards. Today as I was walking the dog, I took a good look at our trees and decided that I had underestimated their height. I'd say they range from 75 to 125 feet. I also counted - three in the front garden, ten in the backyard. Of these, there are probably eight that I cannot fit my arms around. The middle one in the front is a skinny, woodpecker drilled thing that is mostly dead. Eric and a neighbor have grand plans to take it down on their own. It's probably an okay plan because it is one of the shorter ones. I guess we'll find out next summer.

Now the weather forecast is for mixed rain and snow, temps from 32 to 38. A few of us are planning to drop into the valley in the morning for a 16 mile run - starting at 0'dark thirty so we will be done in time for coffee. I guess it'll be a replay of the weather at the Seattle Marathon. We are following that up with our annual Kelly's Christmas Light Run (go here and scroll down to December 3, 2005 for an explanation) and a potluck, then up again for Sunday morning's run. That'll be a good amount of mileage in two days. I hope the weather cooperates and it all goes according to plan!

12 comments:

Banking Miles said...

I only have power in half of my place - kinda weird. Had to snake a long power cord to keep my frig running.

Wes said...

After looking at some of those weather pictures on the news, I'm glad that you are OK. You NW'ers have such big trees! And God yes! Take a SHOWER, tee hee... Have a nice run. It's going to be 70 here this weekend! Woo hoo!! 9 miles in 70 degree weather sounds delightful...

Unknown said...

I thought I would comment while I am at my sister's. We lost power at about 9:45, but doubt we will have it back tonight. It will be nice to be out running in the morning rather than couped up inside the house. See ya at coffee.

Journey to a Centum said...

I'd worry more about Mike and I cutting the tree out of our front yard than the storms. But hey, every logger started with one tree!

Dori said...

Sounds like terrible weather. I'm glad you're OK, though. I can imagine what the streets must look like--we have strongs winds come through here in the summer. They uproot trees and fell branches.

Sarah Elaine said...

Good grief! I leave the Blog-o-sphere for a week, only to return and find out you're living in disaster conditions!

Then I read on and find out that not only are you living in disaster conditions, all you can think about is Starbucks and running.

Well... good to know you still have your priorities in order and full reign of all your faculties. :-)

Take care and hang in there. I'm thinking about you.

Ironayla said...

I just got my power back... and I am amazed it came back on this soon. The howling winds kept me up. Of course it doesn't help that Mark has been gone all week and I was home by myself. :)

I hope your run tomorrow morning goes well and the line at Starbucks not as long tomorrow!

Joe said...

We've been folowing the NW storms...no fun. You were living like we do during Midwest snowstorms. Makes one grateful to have read about Ma and Pa Ingalls, eh??

Glad you are fine. If Eric wants some tips on how to get rid of the stump once he cuts down the tree, email me...I have an astonishing simple way to deal with a stump.

Olga said...

We were spared of power outage. And the move went fine - I am even on the web! But still unpacking:)

JustRun said...

I had a blizzard like that not long ago... wherein the power went out, anyway. The storm, of course, not near as intense as yours. Anyway, when the temp inside got down to 56, I was nearly frozen in all my layers. It seemed so strange because when it's 56 outside and I go for a run, that feels perfect to me! Relativity, I suppose. :)

tryathlete said...

I hope things return to normality soon!

Sarah said...

That was quite a storm! I hope you had some nice runs this weekend. : ) Its very cold here today (below 30) but sunny!