The Nor'Beaster

Shalom:
Well, I'm back.
Last week, we were hit here in Virginia with an Nor'Easter. It rolled in Wednsday.
I'd seen the duck in the canone that morning and was a little concern that I had somehow missed the notice to build an ark. Many of my friends in Virgina Beach lost power and even had lakes in front of their homes. Some even flooded.
In my neighorhood, we got the wind, the rain and even streets flooded, but we were riding it out.
Realizing that this wouldn't blow through before the weekend and I did need a few things from the store, I decided to Man-Up and headed out that afternoon.
Seemss many of my neighors had the same idea.
I had just gotten bak to the apartment, popped  the last of the frozen Chili in the micowave to heat up and begun to put the food away when the power went out.
It was 4 pm.
I didn't think it too bad. We usully get power back on within four hours. I even saw the Power company truck in front of my house.
At eight p.m. I began to become concern. The Power truck had long left.
No phone. No lights. No heat.
 Using my cell-phone and called my mum so she wouldn't panic and then again using my cell phone, I was able to log onto facebook and leave a message for Mark to call on the cell, since the power was out.
I laid in my bed, under a blanket, the apartment now icy cold.
It was that ickly dark that you can't see your own hand. Thankfully, I did have candles. But darkness swallowed its light up. We had D batteries.
I needed C.
So it was dark and as silient as the grave.
 Cold.
For the first time I understood why some many military spouses turned to drink. I could have used a wine cooler at this moment.
This is what Hell feels like.
I began to cry, I don't know for how long. Just that my throat began to hurt.
My prayer was my tears.
And then I began to sing the songs I knew as a child and felt asleep.
Hours later, several loud booms woke me, lighting the ebony sky an eerie green. Several generators had explosed, one right after the other, filling the air and shaking the buildings for several blocks.
I checked my facebook via and found that Mark had left a message on my page, trying to reach me.
And my cell phone battery was dying.
Again I fought fear and tears and lost the battle. Again crying myself to sleep.
Friday morning found me groggy and heating water on the store.
Thank G-d the gas was still on. But we had no hot water. So I had to heat water for not only tea and chili for my am meal, but to wash up.
I debated whether to go and get batteries when a screw fell out of my glasses and they fell off.
Another tantum.
Once I pulled myself together, I headed out the door to get an eyeglass repair kit and batteries. On the way to the store, I walked the full lenght of of street and found two older trees and two power poles had been uprooted and fell against power and phone wires.
That explains why it was taking so long to get the power back on.
On my home, I stopped at a Pay phone and called my in-laws to assure them I was OK.
Who was I fooling? I couldn't assure ME I was doing OK.
Thank G-d my sister-in-law, who lives in Ohio, saw my message to Mark and called his folks. So they knew my plight.
I told mum not to come and get me, since I wasn't sure what the roads looked like in their area. But after I got home and realize; 1. I didn't buy enough batteries and 2. it was even colder in the apartment and 3. with those trees and power poles, no telling when the power would be back on, I had enough juice in the phone battery to call mum back and asked them to come and get me.
A few hours later, after gathering some laundry, picking up the apartment as much as I could, I laid down on the sofa and waited.
Mum's knock on the door was music to my ears.