Holiday Visit From The Storm Giant!

Happy Holidays!

We had a bit of an adventure for Winter Solstice and the start of Yule. Now that we have electricity again, I figured I’d type some of it out.

As most of you know, or may have heard, there was a massive storm giant that swept across most of this country over the last week. Lots of damage country wide was reported, weather record breakers added up, and the storm giant turned out to be pretty intense for many of us. Other people didn’t get hardly anything from it.

Ours began with wind on the night of the 21st. But the night of the 22nd the wind had reached a steady 40 mph, with gusts up to 80 mph and driving rain. The temps had skyrocketed to 48 degrees. We still had 16 inches of snow on the ground from the storm we had a week before.

The winds shook the house and forest, even the mountains it felt like on the night of the 22nd, and most of the next day as well. Our 50 foot butternut tree in the center of the backyard was uprooted. The tree sat between our sons studio house and our house in the backyard. The entire tree was blown over around 3am on the 22nd. The wind was roaring so loud and the rain was driving so hard that we barely heard the tree fall, right outside out bedroom window! By some amazing “luck” the tree fell as perfect a place as it could. Besides the awning above the back door, the tree missed both houses, both our back decks, our landscaping, our stone bench, everything! But it did block off the backyard from the front porch and driveway, and left a large crater in the yard where the root bundle now faces the sky.

The wind knocked over our wind turbine as well, the very same turbine that powers our “Nature Generator” when the power is out… That will be a beast to fix. It ripped the cast iron pipe right out of the cast iron tee! Ripped right through the treads! The only thing keeping it from demolishing the cars is the guy-wires holding it to the roof.

The severe wind continued all day on the 22nd. Trees all over the mountain and state fell. Our electricity and phone lines were knocked out early on the morning of the 22nd. The temps dropped throughout the day. But nightfall the driving rain turned into driving snow. It was a blizzard. The wind was steady at 45 mph and the snow was sideways. It was a whiteout. 14 inches were dropped before it ended. But the temps had dropped to 2 degrees. The windchill was around negative 25.

We went to bed with the woodstove stuffed full. But with the wind we couldn’t engage the catalyst. This caused it to burn faster. By morning it was cold. Temp was zero and the wind was still howling. The house was about 40 degrees, so the fire must have burned out about 5am. I got the fire burning soon after we got up, but it took about 4 hours to warm the house up to 60 degrees.

Melting snow for water, cooking on the woodstove and our gas stove top. Just have to light the burners with a lighter. All our light (during the darkest time of the year) was with candles and oil lanterns. Washing dishes with heated water and rinsing in melted snow water.

So, our holiday activities were spend that way this year. Our son was here the whole time, which was nice. He dragged lots of wood over from the woodpile. Our dog was having a blast of course.

Our holiday dinner turned out to be Hawaiian Kahlua pork in the dutch oven on the woodstove, scalloped spinach and rice. After the dinner our son had to tromp down into the woods to fix the border fence. Before we sat down to eat I looked out the window and saw our dog trotting up the road! I called him and he came immediately, but we knew he found a break in the fence. Anyway, in 5 degrees with a 30 mph steady wind, our son shuffled through 14 inches of remaining snow to find a tree fell on a section of fence. So, he repaired it and headed back to the woodstove. My wife, son and dog manage to play outside earlier in the day, which was nice.

With the very low temps and the constant high winds, we could only keep the house at 60 degrees, and parts were a bit drafty, so we remained bundled up inside. The living room by the woodstove was 60, but the kitchen area we couldn’t get above 50. I had to sleep on the frickin couch though. To keep the woodstove burning all night I needed to sleep next to it so I could drag myself up and load it 5 times through the night. My wife and son are not that good with the woodstove . But my wife and son were happy the house was warm when they woke up!

About 76 hours later the electricity was restored!

Almost 20,000 houses were out of electricity and phone in the state from this storm giant. Some still are.

We have had it knocked out for a solid week here before, but that was some years back. My wife and I are old hats at living without electricity as we have done it many times in many places. However, we discovered things are more difficult now that we both have these health conditions. It used to be easy, but not so much anymore. And I discovered that with the oil lamps for light, the woodstove burning 24/7, and the icy, dry high winds, my lungs have a difficult time. The indoor air quality goes down, the dryness increases and my lungs faltered greatly. I looked at our useless air purifier many times. Without electricity it doesn’t work. Luckily I had battery power O2 machines! But I feel like a buffalo is sitting on my chest and I’m wheezing like a old geezer… but what else is new!

We are on a dead end dirt road in the mountains. All up and down the road are broken power poles, downed wires and broken or uprooted trees. The workers have quite the mess to clean up. I guess we have “temporary electricity”. The patched the lines while they clean up below. once cleaned up they need to repair the lines with permeant fixings.

So far it has been a rather exhausting vacation. Constant wood shuffling, tons of constant snow melting for water (with it being this cold when we melt a gallon of snow we only end up with about a half cup of water); drinking, cooking big holiday meals and the cleaning up by lantern light with no running water, washing, toilet flushing, humidifying on the woodstove, etc, fighting the wind and ice going in and out the door all day… realized we are not healthy, strong 30 year olds anymore! And in my condition my son and wife had to do most of the works, which eats at me.

Today I am gutted, completely. I get these swells of feeling like bones are broken from too much energy pushing. I did more physical work and talking interaction the last few days than in the last month. I’m so weak today it is difficult to just sit up for long. I’m actually typing this as a distraction!

But even through all that we all managed to enjoy our time together.

Once again, Happy, Safe, Healthy Holidays to you all, no matter what you celebrate.

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Comments

YIKES !!!

What a flucking frightening nightmare to get through, and the fact that you and your family survived it so well, in spite of health issues and ensuing exhaustion, is a stunning affirmation of grit and grace ....

Hoping that there's no recurrence and that the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas (like ONE isn't enough) prove to be uneventful, cozy, and restorative !!!!
 
HI @Nord Wolf.....well, that was quite the adventure. I'm sorry you lost your lovely shade tree in the back, but at least it had the good grace to fall in a safe manner.

Winter storms are very exciting for a short period of time, aren't they? We like to keep our overnight temperature low, so usually set the heat for 64 degrees. That's plenty chilly in the morning.

No, when we are no longer young everything is more difficult. It sounds like you have a large property area and that's hard. You're lucky to have your son around to help. I think that's the major reason most people move....everything is just more difficult even if you get someone in to the do the work.

I'm glad all of you made it through and that was one ferocious storm. Even here (Dallas, TX) we felt it going through and it was winter for sure.

Our daughter and her family made it in from Bonaire (island off Venezuela) but some scuba diving equipment was lost and then found in Atlanta. It may not be so easy to fly off tomorrow (planes are in the northeast).

Well, I'm glad that you and your family are OK, sorry your holidays weren't what you thought they'd be and maybe it's time for a few changes (e.g. heat), but if this doesn't happen regularly, maybe it's just one of those things. I'm glad that your son wasn't on the road....nor anyone. Stay warm. Yours, Lenora
 
Wow :wide-eyed:, my bones ache just thinking of your situation. My body is so ultra-sensitive to low temps. I'm sure it has been more than a challenge for you. I hope and pray this doesn't set you back too much. Really glad to hear that your son is nearby to help.
 
goodness, you guys! what a blizzard o_O
I am so happy you guys are safe and i hope you guys heal up after all of that expending. Thank goodness your son is so close! It is never easy to accept that we can't quite do what we once could but i hope you find peace in the fact you were able to keep up at all with it. May you and your family have a much calmer and quieter new year :):star:
 
EGAD! Congratulations on Making It Through

Its hard to process reading about all this going on across multiple states.

I"m grateful we are merely getting mild precipitation. (we desperately need that rain)

Comment: its amazing how often trees "just miss" this or that. I think most of the time, in fact. Thank the trees that did not fall on your structure.

I experienced an intense snow experience once, (but I am a flat lander).

We moved to remote mountains and my eight year old and I got snowed in with four feet at 2500 feet. Husband and dog are in town.

It snowed to the valley floor (extremely rare event) broke 1000s of trees, power down, and my wood pile was outside under a giant canvas tent. I can't reach the wood because its buried in snow.

I had enough batteries to listen to Garrison Keiler, a person who, up in Minnesota, seems to survive snow storms.

We were stuck there for four days. Drove out in the bed of a pick up.

I met all the neighbors during this catastrophe, including the one who is psychotic and threatened to shoot me and my seven year old daughter. (thats a story for a another day)

The seven year old had a broken leg in a cast, and she thought the snow storm was just fun as heck.

I was terrified. Really. I do not like snow. But I love snow.
 
What about your area, @sunshine44? Weren't you also affected by the storm?

How was Xmas and eating some real food? I hope your entire family had a nice time and some fences were mended. Stay safe and warm. Yours, Lenora
 
I've been following some of East USA / Canada storm blast . Prayers 🙏 for all ..
In the UK we had a v cold snap with some snow then it went ... It felt bitterly cold .
Now weve just had rain since Xmas day .
They say another cold spell is coming ..

Thoughts to your family @Nord Wolf ... Grateful u got through ..
And that the storm of PEM is ' manageable
 
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Grateful u got through ..
And that the storm of PEM is ' manageable
I wish it were. Typically heavy weather fronts hit my system hard in the last few years, but on top of that with the severity of this one, plus all the work involved... I'm laying in bed gritting my teeth, sweating in wicked pain on top of the brutal exhaustion, and other ugly symptoms now for three days. I pop on here sporadically for very short sections of time as a distraction, until my head feels like it will explode and forces me back into that darkness. :xpem:
 
What about your area, @sunshine44? Weren't you also affected by the storm?

How was Xmas and eating some real food? I hope your entire family had a nice time and some fences were mended. Stay safe and warm. Yours, Lenora


I am near southern Lake Michigan and we were certainly greeted by the blizzard but not quite like other parts of the country. Many prayers to those affected.
 
I wish it were. Typically heavy weather fronts hit my system hard in the last few years, but on top of that with the severity of this one, plus all the work involved... I'm laying in bed gritting my teeth, sweating in wicked pain on top of the brutal exhaustion, and other ugly symptoms now for three days. I pop on here sporadically for very short sections of time as a distraction, until my head feels like it will explode and forces me back into that darkness. :xpem:
Oh @Nord Wolf if I could have one wish it would be to lift us all from this ....
These poor bodies systems struggling to come back to some sembelence of struggle but not extreme struggle . As we lay in our beds , the solitary Ness of it and the vulnerability . Is your pain all over ? Does anything help ?
I know the gritting teeth situation it then impedes the headache ..
 
I'm laying in bed gritting my teeth, sweating in wicked pain on top of the brutal exhaustion, and other ugly symptoms now for three days.
That's really brutal NordW .... when I get hit with pain that bad all I can do is take 1/2 an Aleve and do a time out (I know, I'm a light weight, but I like to take as little of anything as possible that'll do the job ..... if the 1/2 doesnt do it, I'll give it some time and then take the other half) ..... for some reason, while Tylenol is worthless, and ditto Advil, aspirin, ibuprofen, herbs of any sort, you name it, Aleve is like a miracle for me when it comes to pain. It doesnt always take it down to zero, but when it cant do that, it does take it down substantially, usually enough so I can curl up and manage some shut-eye .....

I don't know what you have on hand for pain that bad, but I'm guessing there must be something that you've found at least herbally that works for you, and now would be the time ....

I wish I had something more substantial to offer .... suffering thru one of those multi-day bouts is almost unbearable ....
 
Had to look up what Aleve is ... Ah ok Naproxen ... Can u buy Aleve on the street in USA ? Here in UK is only by prescription . I'm prescribed it but doesn't seem to provide relief .. I find it hard on my gastro even with Omeprazole . Mind u I've never persevered and taken more than one X 500mg a day .

Good to hear it's working for some people with m.e CFS that's good news
 
I don't know what you have on hand for pain that bad, but I'm guessing there must be something that you've found at least herbally that works for you, and now would be the time
Today the pain is about 75% of what it has been the past 3 days. Yes it is full body and feels like broken bones.
Aleve never did anything for me. Tylenol also does very little. I've tried every pain relieving herb under the sun just about, and most barely touch it. For me Ibuprofen at high doses can take the edge off. The medical dose of 600-800 mg in one go in 200 mg liquid caps, and then repeating that 3 times a day, about every 5 hours. Anything less than 600 mg does nothing.
I don't like having to take it, and when I do it is always with food, but so far it is the only thing that can take a bit of the edge off my pain flare ups. But as soon as the pain tapers to a point where I can at least grind through it, I stop taking the Ibuprofen. I use it only when I can't even rest because pain is so high.
 
If it's of any consolation I've been in pain for days ... Hands and feet ... Deep throbbing and aching .... It's really getting on my nerves .
Must take a hot bath tomor
 
If it's of any consolation I've been in pain for days ... Hands and feet ... Deep throbbing and aching .... It's really getting on my nerves .
Must take a hot bath tomor
Hands and feet only... humm, I never get that. I would suppose it might be easier to work with since soaking hands and feet is more practical than the whole body?
 

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