"Hurricane Day"

Snow, yes. Cold, yes. Tornadoes, yes. Water main breaks, yes. But Hurricanes? In Ohio? No freakin' way.

Way.

Apparently the very eerie, weird, "sand storm on Tatooine" type storm that blew through here yesterday was technically a level 1 hurricane. What is left of Ike. The only thing that keeps if from officially being called a hurricane: the 80 plus mph winds were in gusts, not sustained.

Power is out. Businesses are closed. Roofs are damaged. There is a run on gasoline and ice. But overall, everyone is being nice, helpful and laughing about it. We got power restored today just in time - we didn't loose any food, but the fridge was cutting it close. Trees are down everywhere. And not just little dead limbs. Trees that I could not get my arms around are snapped in half like twigs and lying in roads, porches or even in people's homes. It's freakish!

We are all safe. Last I heard, the death count was 4 - and all were tree-related accidents. 2 involving motorcycles. The first responders were busy all night - sirens were ceaseless. Mostly electric wire fires from what we've heard. Those darn trees, again.

Now, we are on a boil alert. Meaning we can't drink or cook with our water until it's been boiled. Looks like I'll be doing a run for bottled water.

Here is some irony for you. I was prepared for ALL of this in MN and never once had to use it. I had bottled water, batteries, flashlights, candles, matches, radios, tools, canned heat, etc. all downstairs in my little carpeted under-the-stairs storm nook. Complete with pillows and blankets and a wooden door to use to shield our heads if need be. In Ohio - they got nuthin'. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, er, I mean, hurricanes in Ohio.

One more thing I can add to my "now I've seen it all" list. Hmmmm....that list keeps growing. Maybe I HAVEN'T seen it all! :)

It's always kind of fun kicking in to "survival" mode for a few hours...just to see what you and your fellow man are made of. I'm rather proud of these Ohioans...good people. Good natured. Looking out for one another. Patient. One woman even offered to go grab me a bag of ice when a new pallet was rushed in as I was checking out. Kept me from having to get back in line. We had fun finding ways to entertain ourselves sans electricity last night. It was no picnic grading papers by candle light, I can tell you. But we found ourselves sitting on the porch listening to the radio as in days gone by. Only we were listening for school closings! :) And they did not disappoint.

"SNOW" day, everyone!