October Storm 2011

This past week has been one for the record books.  12 inches of heavy wet snow fell last Saturday weighing down trees that had not lost their leaves and snapping branches.

Power lines fell as trees crashed down.  More than 700,000 customers lost power.  Grocery stores went dark, gas stations could not pump gas.  It was bad.  Thank god we had a fire pit and camping gear. 

Erick, Evangeline, and Skylar came over.   All told we were without power for almost six days with evening temperatures in the low 20s.  I'm proud to say that no one went hungry.  We used the dead wood that fell in the fire pit to cook breakfast and dinner.   We had pancakes, coffee, stew, mac and cheese, and all kind of other yummies.

In the evenings we sat around and listened to the hand crank radio.  Most nights we were in bed by 8.  Something about cutting wood, tending fires, being perpetually cold and no TV makes you tired. 

The town opened a shelter at the high school where folks could get warm, eat, shower and charge cell phones.  Susan and Hannah went there for showers daily.  Ladies showers were private, the men's public.  I took baths in buckets of water heated over the fire.

We have power tonight but do not yet have cable, internet or phone.   Many in Simsbury are still without power.

Visiting Charleston

I had a chance to spend a few days in Charleston, South Carolina earlier this week for a conference. The organizers did an excellent job of balancing work and personal time; this left me with a fair amount of time to get out and experience a wonderful historic city.

Charleston is one of the oldest cities in America. As a cradle of the secessionist movement it was bombarded and captured during the Civil War. The aftermath of the war and Reconstruction brought about 100 years of economic stagnation. Lacking substantial economic development funds the beautiful old buildings and homes were never replaced. When things started to grow in the 1970's the conservationist movement was in full swing. A visitor today can easily step back in time and walk among hundreds of homes, churches and buildings dating dating back more than two centuries.

On Friday afternoon, I walked through the city's French Quarter on my way to the Water Front park. Lined by historic homes one side and the ocean on the other, the waterfront park is a treat for visitors. Passing people sitting on benches or talking on the seawall, I was struck by the number of different languages that I heard. Ultimately, I walked all the way down to the White Point Gardens, another neat park containing memorials for Moultrie's Victory on Sullivans Island in June of 1776 and several period cannons. A treat for a history nut.

Moultrie memorial and old cannons

Historic homes along Water Front Park

The inscription on the Sullivan's Island memorial.  The Society
of the Cincinnati was started by Henry Knox after the Revolution.
Membership was limited to officers of the Revolution and their
descendants.

A cool old tree in the White Point Gardens

Our final dinner on Friday evening was held in the Charleston Library Society, one of the country's oldest membership libraries and a veritable treasure trove of historical information.  Today it is both a site for research and a modern lending library.  To prepare for our dinner the staff brought out old texts relating to machinery and manufacturing.  Pretty darn cool!

Skylar Visits the Playground

The sky was clear and blue yesterday. A beautiful Indian Summer day, the temperature hung around 80 degrees until well in the evening. Susan, Hannah and I were watching Skylar so that her Mom could study and dad could work.

A day at the playground was almost a must. So, we tamped Skylar full of macraroni and cheese and then ran out the door. When we got there, I took Skylar down the slide with me. Hannah, who is familiar with the playground neglected to mention that the slide had a bump or two in it. They probably provide a little jump for a small kid. For me, they resulted in spinal pain. Evil. One could make the point though that 41 year old dudes shouldn't be going down the slides. Oh well.



The most memorable part for me was an encounter that Skylar had with three other little girls in the shade of the cement tube. They colored, or rather Skylar tried to steal their ink markers. Each talked to her, had her touch a shoe of give a high five. Skylar was so excited that she sat there and just squealed with happiness. One of the little girls asked Hannah if it was okay to pet Skylar's head.

The swings were another fun time. Little Sky was just laughing and laughing as auntie Hannah pushed her back and forth. I took the opportunity to sneak up behind and catch the swing on the back swing - confused the snot out of the poor kid.


Finally, check out this photo of Skylar walking around with Hannah and Grandma. She's so close to walking. I would not be surprised if she takes her first steps on her own in the next week or two.

The Hurricane's Mild Aftermath

Well the wind picked up a little but was really nothing serious at all. A few branches were knocked down around our home. We didn't lose power so we were lucky. Many of the folks that we're talking to in Simsbury and surrounding neighborhoods did lose their power. Here's what our yard looked like when it was all over. We're pumping the 6.5" of water out of the basement now. Will see how long that takes. Good thing most everything was up on pallets or shelves and off the floor.

Hurricane Irene Updates

So Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm. It's reported that the worst will have passed us by noon. One weatherman has even hinted that we could see some sun later this afternoon. Amazingly, we still have power. Three other families that we know in Simsbury are without power now. We have had about 7" of rain. Almost everyone of them has found their way to our basement. Here's a quick little video.

Video Doesn't Display? Watch it Here

Hurricane Irene Just Hitting Now

The center of Hurricane Irene is just passing through Northern New Jersey. The news media is reporting wide spread power outages in Southern Connecticut; almost 200,000 people without power. Storm surge is to hit soon. I made sure to make coffee immediately when I woke up so we could at least have one hot cup before we lose power.

The rain has picked up significantly and the wind is just starting to be an issue. We are still safe and dry. I will continue to post as the storm progresses

Check out these shots I took of the street in front of our house and our back yard. I'm really glad that I took the time to dig and brick that drainage trench earlier this summer

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Erick and Evangeline's Wedding

Unfortunately, it's been a little while since I posted something to the blog. I had imagined a more detailed post about Erick and Evangeline's big day including a video of the ceremony for those who couldn't be there and photos. (A number of the photos are already showing up on Facebook.) Hopefully, Susan and I can add a few more to those when we're done sorting and tagging.

So as not to delay too much, I thought I would post a video of the ceremony now and then follow up with other posts.