walkingman

We lived without electricity for the past four days due to a freak storm that rocked the Chicagoland area on Monday. Our nice suburban area was hard hit and many of the mighty and proud trees that have lined our streets and stood guard in our yards are now splintered and shattered. These majestic elms, maples, willows, and oaks succumbed to heavy winds and lightning strikes as they were torn apart and asunder. My neighbors and I have never witnesses such widespread and awesome damage on our block. The night air has been filled with the sound of gas generators providing power to various homes in the otherwise darkened neighborhood. In the day time the sounds of chain saws and wood chippers joins the generator noises. These are not the sounds one expects to hear during the traditional suburban summer. My family and I are faring better than some of our neighbors. We are the hippie family that goes camping the old fashioned way, with tent, sleeping bags, and all the Coleman attachments. We have the lanterns, the stove, the canteens, and the coolers. We are used to roughing it you might say so a few days without electricity is not a big deal for us. And no air conditioning, well as we all know, I do not like nor use it, again, no big deal. My poor neighbors on the other hand are dying without the comforts of the modern age. Driving around was a hassle as many street lights were out but the trains worked so it was easy to commute to work on Tuesday. Food was not a problem as we had lots of canned and fresh veggies. It was a problem for our carnivore neighbors who had lots of frozen and expensive meat and meat byproducts in their refrigerators and freezers which were slowly turning into meat popsicles. They were trying to figure out how to keep these valuable commodities frozen or having meat parties. I was glad that we did not have to worry about either of these options. This morning the power came on and life will return to normal. We still have a stack of wood that takes up a good part of the front and side yard. The village is working on hauling it all away in good time. Until then we will adopt the plan of a good friend and neighbor who has erected a nice sign in his yard which reads: Free firewood.