Thursday, March 6, 2014, early morning.
The storm last night is fading, after thunder and lightening scared the cat and sent her to hide in the recesses of a closet somewhere. Sheets of water smudged all windows on the south-side, on the east-side, the north. The trash bin waiting to be picked up managed to stay upright, surprising us all. We have a day of rain ahead of us, and twelve, nay, fifteen hours to entertain ourselves.
First, coffee and breakfast. Hubby volunteered to make caponata and eggs after the cat woke him, around five or so. He had planned to cook and had told me ahead of time. Only, he heard that I was sick of eggs and skipped the egg when he served me. No problem. Caponata is a rich stew of wonderful veggies, so rich that your tongue will keep on singing praises to the chef for hours.
The Weather Channel app on my Samsung Android which I keep right by my bed, in case there is a Tsunami and we have to hightail out of the house in the middle of the night, by way of the garage, and our well-stocked SUV always ready for any weather, then up to Coast Guard Hill a good seven minutes away by car, that app. announced its downloading somewhere in the middle of the night, waking the household even before the rain and the winds began pounding the windows and the rooftop.
Great! I thought. In an hour or two I can take a very long walk to the beach to check up on last night's damage. (passing the time means stretching all activities including the aforementioned walk to the beach which might take all morning.)
No need to rush anywhere on such a day. Our house is full of food, cooked and raw. We can survive for days with our canned, frozen and fresh food. But, if we lose electricity, something that happens rarely, we do have wood to provide heat in the fireplace, and cellular phones to stay in touch and call for emergency.
Without electricity, however, I couldn't be writing leisurely as I'm doing right now. Or reading at length in a dark place as my living room is now. Without electricity, no stove, no microwave or toaster oven. Without electricity, I couldn't recharge my many devices that run on batteries.
From the look of my driveway, the torrent of rain from last night might have dislodged some tree branches or entire trees. Debris might have blocked access to many roads, disrupting commerce, services, emergency vehicles. When we first moved here the thought of such disturbances would have caused me anxiety.
I have learned that storms pass; that services resume; that neighbors help neighbors in an emergency. That if a tsunami hit in the middle of the night, and we didn't hear or feel anything, such catastrophic event would be out of our control.
No use worrying about it.
15 comments:
We were supposed to have rain today as well but it can barely be seen the ground. You are right – we cannot worry about weather catastrophe, but I still get scared when I hear the sirens announcing a tornado is coming – maybe because they sound like the sirens I remember when in Paris during WW2 – I was a wee child but one can never forget these sounds.
That picture speaks a thousand words, if one ever did. We've had some stormy winds and torrential rains along the coast close to where I live, but tsunamis we don't get in UK, thank goodness!
Hope you have calm weather soon. ♥
Well, I'd say that's a good attitude. But I would have jumped out of my skin if a tsunami alarm went off in the middle of the night, yikes, even if it was only updating itself.
storms do pass in life...and nature....we are due for another snow storm tonight...which is good as long as well have power...havent lost it yet this winter...knocking on wood...
Nothing like living on the edge, Rosaria! I just get lost when the electricity goes out...no TV, internet, news or what's happening...Yes, the cell phones still work but I couldn't find the numbers in the dark...totally not prepared for an emergency The only thing I know to do is grope around in the cupboards for candles and matches. We have few primitive ways to survive, such a fireplace. Hmmmm...maybe this calls for a firepit in the backyard :)
Last week I purchased a back-up battery for my iPhone. That seemed a sensible thing to do since we have lost power during two recent snow/ice storms, and each time a primary worry was whether my iPhone charge would last. I live in the Deep South. It's been an unusual winter.
After Oklahoma and tornado season there, Portland seems as mild as can be but then I am not sitting on the edge of the Pacific Ocean either. I adopted a Silky Terrier from the humane society 3 days ago and we were out walking early this morning and turned a corner and the wind almost swept him away. Seriously. It's not easy being little.
Wow.. that's some weather. I don't know that I'd be as calm as you knowing there's a risk of a tsunami but you do have the right attitude. I'm glad it wasn't overly serious.
I never thought about the possibility of a tsunami for you. It sounds like you're prepared for any emergency and I sure hope you never need it! The walk on the beach sounds good to me although I know it's not a warm, sunny stroll. Stay safe and warm Rosaria!
We've had months of rain and stormy weather.
I would hate to have to think about tsunamis though. I suppose it could happen anywhere.
Must be very scary to have an alarm go off.
Maggie x
Nuts in May
I guess worry won't get you anywhere. I try to keep supplies on hand for when we lose electricity. However, often when I go to check on my supplies (flashlights) I find they have been used for other purposes and relocated.
Send us some of that rain. We need it in Central Texas.
Indeed. We had a 36 hour outage a few weeks ago but with Kerosene lantern and a few candles life went on. I ever got some reading done...:)
I hate storms but as you say there is nothing one can do about them. Thankfully after so much rain we have just had two days of sunshine. Have a good week Diane
It is good to be ready for shut downs. We have enough food in the house to last us for a while, and will have a wood burning stove soon to help with any power failures. We also hope to get solar panels installed at some point in the future which should keep us online!
Ah, Rosaria. Rain, wing damage, power outages. We've been quite lucky here, except for the first storm of the season. (That's usually what it takes to give the system a good shakedown.) You, on the other hand, live on a tsunami plain. That would certainly have challenges of it's own, which I had never considered previously.
Take care. Rest well.
Blessings and Bear hugs.
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