Saturday, August 27 – morning
I hesitate to write this, because we’ve still got three more hours on the storm clock, but thankfully this hasn’t been as bad as the pundits predicted, at least in my area. I’m not complaining for one second. I’m grateful, eternally grateful. But given that the week started with an earthquake, which is to say the least unusual for New York, and ended with a hurricane, following a summer of desert-like temps, I couldn’t help but wonder if there were some celestial message I was supposed to divine from all these events. At Passover, we intone the ten plagues that befell Pharoah before his whole world fell apart. Should I be looking for locusts next?

But I also confess there is something about hunkering down before and during a storm that appeals to the pioneer woman in me (and it’s hard to be much of a pioneer woman when you’re 20 miles from the Big Apple). But I put in my supplies (chocolate chips and chocolate ice cream), and baked and cooked like we were going to be stranded on the prairie for weeks on end.

In what must be one of those memories from childhood which is delightful to the kid, less so to the Mom, I remember a huge snowstorm that paralyzed Baltimore. My Dad traveled for work, and my mother used to insist that he’d read the weather reports and head for the state line every time a storm approached. And this one was a doozy. No electricity or heat for days. No telephone or television. My Mom heated canned soup in a coffee carafe over a sterno light. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. At night, we slept at a neighbor’s house (why he had heat and we didn’t I have no clue). The kids had a super sleepover, and the adults stayed up late and played cards.

I have nothing but fun memories of that Baltimore blizzard, but I’m pretty sure that Mom and Dad had a lengthy conversation when he returned.

So we seemed to have skated through this latest storm with but a few branches on the ground and maybe a few extra pounds from all the “hunkering down” we’ve done.

Saturday, August 27 – afternoon

I spoke too soon. An hour after writing the blog entry we lost electrical power. Very frustrating.

Sunday, August 28 – morning

Still no power. The subway flooding means my husband will have to drive my daughter back into NYC this evening. My pioneer spirit is fading. I need to check out how much it will cost to buy a generator and have it installed.

Sunday, August 28 – evening

The force is with us again. Yea! We have hot showers, television, and enough light to read. Life is good.

Monday, August 29 – morning

We lost electricity again last night – about 10 pm. ConEd predicts repairs will be completed on the downed lines in our area sometime around midnight on September 1 – Thursday. I know others have it much worse, but I’m having a hard time finding a positive life lesson in all this.

Tuesday, August 30 – morning

Stiletto Faithful, can you share your best – or worst – storm memories? Remember misery loves company – or in the alternative – a good laugh. I’ll be reading your comments on my laptop at the public library, an oasis of normal in our small town. They still have books, power – and free internet!

Marian, the Northern, wet half of Evelyn David

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Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
***New – Lottawatah Twister – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The Sullivan Investigation Series
Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake- Paperback – Kindle
Murder Off the Books- Paperback – Kindle
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

Romances
Love Lessons – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords