Any way the wind blows

[rolanni]

As some of you may know, Sunday night into Monday, we here in Maine experienced a backwards Nor'easter; call it a Sou'easter. Wind and rain, and wind, and did I mention wind?  Trees went down; lines went down; even the buried lines weren't safe because trees fell on power stations.  The storm got down with us about mid-day Monday, leaving more people without power than the previous benchmark -- The Great Ice Storm of January 1998.  As I write this, there are still more than 100,000 customers without power.

We here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factor are not -- and were never -- among them.

The generator kicked in around 5 am on Monday, seamlessly becoming Spacestation Cat Farm.  We had lights, heat, and computers if not internet, for the next 10 hours, when the line power came back on.  We have been stable ever since, and so far as I can tell, we didn't lose so much as a branch off of any of our trees.

Around us, neighbors as near as the next road are still without power, though CMP seems to think that everyone will be back up and running by Saturday.

Steve and I went to Augusta yesterday, and were able to witness first-hand the carnage among the trees.  Not birch trees, not slender saplings -- big, sturdy trees in the prime of their lives, slapped out of the ground, shattered into matchsticks.  It was terrible to see.

We also saw dozens and dozens and dozens of utility trucks traveling in convoys, heading upcountry, and many mystery trailer trucks, battered and torn, and rusty, which we surmised to be taking on the dead transformers and the old wire and taking them to reclamation facilities.

So, that.

In other news, I have been off-and-on not well, for the last while now, so progress of any kind on anything has been sideways, at best.  I cannot tell you how frustrating this is.  Lab work has been performed; and yesterday a new blood draw.  Hopefully, someone will figure something out, and normal programming will resume shortly.

I think that's all the news for the moment.  Everybody stay safe.

Today's title brought to you JJ Cale, "Anyway the Wind Blows."  Here's your link.

Comments

[jhetley]

I've seen trees 2' to 3' diameter broken off above ground, on neighborhood walks. We got to share a neighbor's generator via heavy extension cords, enough for refrigerator and chest freezer. Power back on yesterday afternoon, but still some parts of the neighborhood dark.

[malkingrey]

According to the local gossip (imported from The Wilderness by my brother, who is far more sociable than I'll ever be*), as of yesterday there were only three generators left for sale in the entire north of New Hampshire.

*Back in the 80's in Dallas, he used to go clubbing, for heaven's sake. Which would feel to me like voluntarily hanging out in one of the circles of Dante's hell.)