seriously our street has been phenomenal, Magnus is a notoriously picky eater, but the lady across the street can get him to eat at her house, so she fed him dinner last night for which I was grateful. she has a generator, and so she chilled a quart of chocolate milk that we had (antiseptic parve sealed) and I was humbled that she offered to make me coffee this morning. granted I think nothing of making cookies for all the kids in the neighborhood and giving them juice boxes, it is truly, each person gives the kids what they have and so their lives are minimally disrupted while we smile at ourselves for our resourcefulness.
it is truly a 'stone soup' story on our street and we have spent more time talking to each other this week than we have in the past 10 years. ;-) we were always friendly, but when there is no tv, no lights, we are running out of things to do inside, so we talk to each other. shocking huh? heehee
there are times that I do not want the power to come back on, I know that we will loose this idealistic atmosphere and go back to the frantic pace that we usually have with the mass exodus each morning and influx in the evenings. I am also dreading cleaning the back yard, that I know I must do today... I tried to clean my office yesterday and I should finish that project so that I can get back to work when the boys go back to school. actually I could hire someone to clean the back yard, but I can not hire someone to clean my office, so that is most likely how I will handle that. ;)
but overall... we are comfortable with 60' and mostly cloudy and very pleasant. I have only put 24 miles on the car since I topped off, so we are doing extremely well that way, not running around worrying about fuel. just staying home and enjoying the peace and humm of the generators in the neighborhood. I am resolved that we really must get a solar array on the roof as soon as possible, ;-) I firmly believe that the gas shortage and people with generators desperate to find gas is not the answer, but that a solar system would be exactly what we need to get us off the grid and self sufficient.
yesterday Erik made spaghetti by himself for dinner, opening a can of olives and tomatoes the old fashion way with a hand crank can opener, a novelty in our lives that fortunately, I had in our camping supplies, today we are going to pop popcorn on the stove top (we usually use an electric air popper) and if I can find a neighbor with an egg, I will teach the boys to make a solar oven and make a cake.
as for the power... our zip code:
| 77379 | 26200 Households | 99.32% without power |
Getting a Tree Service (E.F. Tree Service) is a game of Patience... (281)580-4431 did an excellent job before the storm, now we need them back out. HEB is also open but no cooler / electricity yet, running on Generators for lights and cashiering only (281)374-7727.
