The wind blew in from the South which is highly unusual. Normally we get our wind from the West or the North. This Southern wind means that the Low pressure system has gone ashore below the Olympic Mountains and is moving up the Sound. This can be a bad thing for us. The Olympics keep the weather off of us here on Whidbey Island, by splitting the systems that hit the Southern face of the Mountains. It sends the winds around the Eastern edge and Around the Northern Edge. Sometimes they meet in the middle. This is what has happened today. The Winds from the South are fierce, but it is the winds that will soon hit from the West that will bring us the danger. When they come around the Western side and then turn and head East into the Strait, they meet the resistance of the mountains on both sides of the strait, and the wind gets funneled through the gap between US and Canada, and increases in wind speed. Tatoosh Island on the North Western edge of the US clocked winds of 91 MPH. That is about 30 miles as the crow flies from my front door.
Yep, we got hammered! We lost our power about 230 AM on Tuesday night,, and left is in the dark. I could hear trees and branches breaking all around me, but nothing hit the house. The alders in the back were bent way over in the force of these winds. I am afraid of the dark, and my night light went out too. I grabbed one of the 25 flashlights I had beside my bed and headed in to get the candles and the lanterns. I peeked out the front door and it was BLACK out there. I could see the lights of Port Townsend peeking around the edge of the big white monster they built across the street, so I knew it wasn’t EVERY one.
I got the candle lit (a big apothecary candle from Yankee Candle) and put it on the bathroom sink to give me light. Then I pulled the covers over my head and tried to sleep. The wind was whacking pretty loudly, and it made it hard to sleep. I kept hearing garbage cans rolling down the road. (Garbage day was Wednesday, so all the cans were out early. )
When I got up the power was back on, so I jumped up and made a pot of coffee, and then it went out again. I sat at my desk and looked out the front window, and read the latest Gourmet Magazine. All the leaves are now off the Maple tree, and the Robins have found the tiny crab apples left on that tree, They were clinging with their little feet all hooked around the branches of the tree. They would grab a tiny apple berry in their beak, and then try to swallow it all while trying to stay up right on the tree. The back feeders are all empty, the wind has blown all seed onto the ground, so the rats and squirrels can find it easier. The doves are happy too, as they like to ground feed.
I had to get out the Coleman stove and lantern, and cooked my breakfast and lunch sitting at the dining room table. There is just something about cooking on the camp stove that makes it taste so much better. We did not lose our pump, so water was no problem. I built a fire in the woodstove, and turned my chair around so that it faced the fire, and tried to relax. The Phone kept ringing. People checking up on each other. I have a cordless phone everywhere but in my bedroom where I have an old fashioned Princess style phone beside my bed.
I moved into the bedroom, layed on my stomach and propped my self up on my elbows, and was doing crossword puzzles. Then it hit me, That this is not the fun that I remembered it to be. We used to all gather around the fireplace with lanterns and play games, Cootie, Parcheesi, Scrabble, War, Books, etc. and roast hotdogs and marshmallows. It was exciting! We were camping in the livingroom. I carried this tradition on with me and when we lost power when my kids were still home, We would camp in the livingroom too. It is not the same when you live alone. It is boring. It is lonely, and when you are in dire straights, or feel that you might be, you want someone there with you. At least I do. So at 845 I glanced over at the lantern because it was sputtering, and then I noticed that my clock was flashing…HUH? So I got up and turned on the lights…VOILA!! Power. I called Phyllis and said “Please tell me the power JUST came back on…” Nope says she, it had come on about an hour before! ARRRGHH!!
I got up, went around and turned on the needed lights, caught the last 15 minutes of JERICO, and came in to check email. I had used my laptop until the battery had gone out, but I still had over 68 spam mail.
I have rambled on long enough, But I just wanted to tell everyone that yes, we are fine. Whidbey was the worst hit, but we are fine. I guess it made national news because a long lost cousin called. LOLOL What a way to get back in touch with family! LOL
More storms coming, so cross your fingers that this will dump tons of snow on us! Now THAT is fun!!!
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