We were fortunate. Our power was only out from 12 pm on Friday until 3 pm today (Saturday); 27 hours. Over 115 households and businesses are still in the dark, down from over 200,000. New Hampshire and Massachusetts are also seriously affected. We checked with several neighbors and were glad to learn that they were managing fine and staying warm enough. Tonight will be bitter cold.
We kept the bird feeders stocked with suet and seed. I shared a dipper of sunflower seeds with our bantams, who were content to stay inside their little house for the duration. Chickadees, hairy and downy woodpeckers, juncoes, goldfinches, and mourning doves are a few of the visitors to the feeder in the last couple of days.
Our local ravens graced us with a conversation and lazy circle over in today's stunning blue sky. I looked up when I heard their cro-oak calls to see them winging overhead, curving around toward the Sheepscot River, their section of blue bordered with a lacy tapestry of diamonds in the upper branches of the black locust trees by the road.
We kept warm, and could cook our food as usual on the coal and propane stoves. The oven wouldn't light, so our bread baked in dutch ovens or with the pans wrapped in heavy foil; all on top of wood and coal stoves. Worked fine, with a brief flip-over to brown the tops.
We had filled buckets and bottles with water for drinking, washing, and flushing before the power went out for the last time. Early this morning we carried "mud" buckets down to the brook at the back of our yard and filled them again (for flushing), then carried them back up the icy hill to the house. The oil lamps and shielded candles gave us light. The work crews worked around the clock, even calling us at one point to see whether they had managed to restore our power yet. They hadn't, but we thanked them for their efforts and assured them we were fine until things settled down.
I love the times when my husband and I can rely on the grace of God and each other. I am thankful to have had such an opportunity with this ice storm. I missed my friends here.