Electricity

Electricity is:

a.) the flow of electric charge

b.) a song composed by Elton John and Lee Hall (for the successful Billy Elliot the Musical.)

c.) the basis of the entire US population's infrastructure and very useful to power things such as furnace fans, well pumps, and refrigerators; making it pretty much a necessity to modern life and a huge stinking pain-in-the-ass when there is a grid failure and where is the power company and why don't we see any linemen working and oh boy it's getting cold in this dark house and aughhhhh!

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NorthernDaddy picks definition "C".

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A pretty bad storm rolled through the Champlain Valley on Wednesday - with high winds and a lot of rain. Wind speeds on Mt. Mansfield were measured at over 100 mph - that's about eight miles away. Closer to the NorthernClan's house, the winds were measured in the 60-70mph range. Little breezes like that tend to knock over big fluffy pine trees. The kind of trees that seem to be growing next to every electric line in the area. Lots of trees fall over = lots of power lines go down. Our house was without power for 42 hours. NorthernToddler was not amused; once he found out that his milk was slowly spoiling in the not-so-cold refrigerator, he pitched a fit and then tried to drink the whole gallon in a last-ditch effort to save it. His plan didn't work. The entire contents of our fridge were discarded, less the beer, ketchup, and a few other non-spoilable items. (House-cleaning tip: arrange for an extended power failure, and when you toss out all of the spoiled food, the shelves will be empty - making cleaning the fridge much easier!)

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Other strategies for coping with an extended power failure include:

-keeping sweaters and blankets handy. When the furnace stops working during winter, it might get cold.

- pre-planning your family's travel routes: which roads are likely to be clear in a major storm, where to go when an evacuation is necessary, and which restaurants on the way home have back-up generators ('cause you aren't cooking Ramen noodles on the camp stove in the basement!)

-keeping the family entertained while the house is dark and cold. (We spent our time playing Memory™ {with a cheating Toddler} and plotting evil revenge on the guy across the street with the whole-house backup generator - he had his entire house lit up - even the Christmas lights!)

-knowing when to give up hope of the power ever coming back on and when to bail out to the nearest hotel. (The second night was our limit: it was in the 40s in the house, and NorthernDaddy needed a hot shower and a good night's sleep - we went and found a room in the next town!)

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Our power came on about 10am Friday morning. NorthernDaddy's boss couldn't figure out how Daddy knew the power was back on without being at the house. Simple trick: call the home phone. If it rings forever, the power is still out. If the answering machine picks up, the power is back on! (How come he couldn't figure that out?!)

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With the power being out and life being a little crazy, there aren't many pictures to post. We do have one picture: our first egg from our own chickens! WE HAVE AN EGG!!!

(Sorry about the quality of the pic - we took it while we were sitting in the NorthernToddler(PowerOutage)AdventureMobile trying to determine the exact best moment to give up all hope of the lights in the house ever coming back on and head to a hotel - it was dark in the car. But, IT'S OUR FIRST EGG!!!!)

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