Storms and such...

I used to wish I had lived 100 years ago -- like Laura Ingalls Wilder, on the prairie in a house made out of sod. I'm not sure I'm cut out for that lifestyle anymore, though...

Case in point - we had a windstorm this week. It knocked out power to over 750,000 homes when last I was able to receive news from the outside world. Our home was one of them, and we are still out of power two days later. We also have no cell service and no internet connectivity. And what am I most upset about? That I cannot blow-dry my hair. I don't see someone that vain being able to live in a house made out of sod, do you?

The storm was glorious! I was headed for a work-related party up at Newcastle Golf Course. For those who've had the oppy to golf that course, you're likely aware there are always winds up there. This night the wind was blowing hard enough to bend the landscaped trees to right angles. That would have put serious distance on a ball, to be sure! Or brought it up short, I suppose.

And, by the way, for those who care, yes there were candles and no, I didn't catch on fire again. I also did not pole dance; so all in all, I provided very little entertainment to those I was with. I'll try harder next time...

Le troisieme ange and I awoke to find a 100-foot tree had fallen across the only access in and out of our property. Not good - potato cakes were calling us from downtown Redmond, so we discussed our options. I wanted to call a tree service; however, we had no phone service with which to do so. She wanted to "cut it up" ourselves. When I asked her what we would use to cut it up with, she replied, "Some sort of cutting tool."

I laughed - I could just picture us trying to cut through the tree's 3-foot diameter with an axe, and I was certain we would die of hunger before we were successful. Still, she put on some clothes (we had been discussing this outside in not much more than underwear) and she went, got the axe, and started swinging away. I put on clothes and went out to shout verbal encouragements to her. The guys next door came over (either because they saw us earlier in our underwear or because they couldn't believe she was seriously thinking she could chop through that trunk). They fired up a chain saw and sliced and diced until there was nothing left but a stack of 14" rounds to help us survive next year's storm! Wasn't that nice of them?

We suffered very little other damage, although, as I mentioned, we are still without power or cell coverage. More sad is that my dog died that day as well.

Charlie has been with us for 15 years. My ex-husband bought him for our first anniversary. Charlie got sick last year at this same time, and survived (helped by Glenlivet and $2500 worth of modern technology). When I brought him home from the vet last January, I made him promise to live at least one year for that amount of money. Bless his soul, he kept that promise.

I will miss you, Charlie Brown. I already do.