Storms happen

Have you ever considered leaving the madness of civilization and living off the grid? Sometimes I have this fantasy of myself in the woods near a stream with a massive garden. I imagine that I’d have solar panels to keep some basic luxuries like refrigerators and ceiling fans. Overall independent and in the fresh air surrounding myself with nature. I’m stressing that this is a fantasy.

I love a good thunderstorm. I love the charge in the air & the smell as it rolls through leaving the cement wet. I think storms are pretty & even soothing. I love listening to the water run off and the sound of thunder. I love watching the lightning spark through the storm clouds. Monday we had a massive storm. I was very unprepared. I think everyone I know was unprepared. We expected a thunderstorm & what we got is Derecho. We lost power around 1:30 in the afternoon & I watched the storm out of my window pick up a grill & slam it into a car. I thought that was as bad as it gets, then I lose cell service. No power & no way to call anyone. My son set up an FM radio so we could listen to music. It got dark & we lit candles. The air was cool and having the windows open felt nice. Tuesday I jump up out of bed irritated at the chaos I’m still in. No electricity, no cell service. I wake the kids & we head to find a gas station with Coffee!

We drive down the street & see the destruction. Trees on top of fences, crashed through a garage, & smashed through sheds. Downed power lines. Branches & leaves everywhere. People lost their property and I’m irritated because I can’t make coffee?? What would my off the grid nature living fantasy self think of me right now??

Tragedy and mayhem go together. 2 out of 6 gas stations we pass are open. The 2 are packed with lines of cars in the street waiting to fill up with gas. Shelves are empty as people try to stash snacks. Ice is selling out. There’s no lids for the coffee cups. People are being rude to each other. We make it out with a box of cold doughnuts & iced coffee. Mission accomplished.

I’m hopeful that we get power back. I think, it shouldn’t take much longer. I pull some food out & fire up the grill. This was a moment I was proud of. Our gas stove still works & so does our water. We will be just fine. The kids are fed. I’m glad we could make some food before it spoils.

We drive around looking for ice & I try not to get too frustrated when we find CASH ONLY ... I only have a card. There’s no power, where am I going to get cash? Luckily we find a store with power & ice & a working card reader! Hallelujah! I’ll take 40 lbs of ice thanks! I‘m realizing this could be something that lasts a while. I pack the ice around the food in the freezer & pull the milk & cheese into a cooler.

We charge our phones in the car hopeful we will be able to communicate with the outside world. Then we find ourselves going to bed again without electricity.

Wednesday I remember that I can make coffee in my French press. I boil water & head out to my car to plug in my phone. I have service! I can load my social media & check my email! What a great morning! Sipping coffee on the phone with my friend comparing the destruction and our shared experiences from different places. Catching up with the news I’ve missed over two days. Just as I am accepting this could last through the weekend, my daughter comes outside and tells me we have electricity!!

What felt like a long time was roughly 44 hours. Lucky again and so grateful I realize I need to get ready for work. I keep telling myself how lucky we are & after we all have a shower I let my friends know, you can come here! we have power! I’ll share my good fortune!

Then my son finds the basement flooded. My price for my fortune maybe? Maybe just part of the process. I spend the rest of the week cleaning that up & having people try to resolve that issue as well.

Some weren’t as lucky. My friends had to wait longer. Go to work even though they had no power at home. They waited until Saturday. The power companies worked around the clock to help us get back to normal. Iowa wasn’t ready for winds up to 110 mph. As I’m writing this, there’s still more than 7,600 customers effected by outages. I hope they were lucky enough to have access to water & food.

But just like everything else that happens in 2020 I realize how lucky I am to see what’s there to be grateful for. My job paid us for our time off. I realize I’m so blessed to be able to share what I have, even if it’s just a hot shower & a phone charger. Or a bag of ice. I’m so lucky to know I can be comfortable with less than what I have.

Practice gratitude. Be kind. Think positive. Do better.