It's IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of the amazing and generous Alex Cavanaugh. To find links to other IWSG contributors, click here. Thank you to co-hosts for November's IWSG: Kim Lajevardi, Victoria Marie Lees, Joylene Nowell Butler, Erika Beebe, and Lee Lowery!
As I draft this post, (five days before you'll read it) we are 72-hours into a power failure after a devastating nor’easter. My entire town has lost electricity. These days, I’ve got a full-house generator which we arranged to put in when my husband was sick. Ironically, it wasn’t fully operational until a few weeks after we lost him, but my daughter and I are blessed with it now. There is not much worse than sitting for days in a freezing house praying for the power to go on, but this time we've got heat, hot water and lights. No cable or WiFi, but still, it’s all good.
In more irony, I was supposed to have four, hundred-foot pine trees taken down the day before the storm but the tree guy was delayed. We live in a pine grove and for various reasons, trees have been dropping like matchsticks over the past several years. My four are now exposed. Two of the four were struck by lightning this summer and while they remain(ed) standing, the damage forced me to pull the trigger. I’ve been waiting over two months for their removal and now, I’m a day late and a dollar short, as they say. One of the lightening-struck trees snapped in Tuesday’s wind and its top is now decorates my yard. An oak that never worried me also cracked.The damaged crown, still attached, dangles over the generator in what they call a "widow-maker." Ugh, yes. But while all this is a worry, I have to put it into perspective. Down the street, a tree rests on the shattered windshield of a neighbor’s car. Elsewhere, uprooted trees landed on several houses. Those with severe damage take priority of course, so now it's time to cultivate patience. Given the tree devastation around here, who knows when the tree guy will make it back to me.
So, what has my storm experience to do with writing? Not much, really. Only, this is my first significant storm with a full-house generator. I'm not used to having access to anything electrical during power outages so it didn’t dawn on me until earlier today I can fire up the laptop, edit my WIP and create this blog post. (Fingers crossed on actually being able to publish it!)
Today is a day to count blessings. My daughter was with me through one of the loudest, longest and scariest storms I have ever experienced. We have light and warmth. A fuel company delivered more propane to the generator today. And once I figured out I have the power to open the laptop and write my IWSG post, this 500 hundred word vent helped things feel a smidge more normal.
Update: Power restored. Undying gratitude offered to the multitude of power workers who descended on us from places as far away as Alabama, North Carolina and Canada to repair our electric grid.
