October 11, 2013
Dear Everyone:
Tomorrow marks the 51st anniversary of what is still known as
The Columbus Day Storm. This
was a meteorological fluke that basically turned northern California and
the Willamette Valley into an enormous wind tunnel that toppled power
poles, gigantic trees and church steeples alike, plunging the entire
area into darkness for upwards of a week.
That’s right. We were
without electricity for one full week.
On the plus side: No school.
This, of course, appealed mostly to us kids.
No hot water, which meant no baths.
Ditto. And no school
meant no homework. Yeah!!!
On the delta side: No
TV.
For a whole week.
Instead, we read books, by candle light.
And by fire light, since we were blessed with multiple fireplaces
to keep warm.
Imagine if that were to happen today.
No electricity for a week.
No TV. No
Internet.
No cell phones. No
Google,
Facebook,
Twitter,
Wikipedia.
No Kindle,
Nook,
laptop,
tablet.
They run for a while on
battery, but we can’t recharge them.
Got candles? Got
“real” books? Got something
to do for a week?
Which brings me to the Emergency Supply Box (ESB).
I’ve had one for years.
And one of the things in it is a lowly pack of
playing cards.
Quick! What are the rules
for playing Solitaire? (Not
the one on your computer.)
Poker?
Hearts?
Gin Rummy?
Go Fish?
No, you can’t look it up online.
A few weeks ago, the maintenance crew where I live got together with the
landscaping crew and did some work on redirecting the rain water from
the gutters into the storm drain system.
The original developers didn’t really concern themselves with
25-plus years of rain possibly damaging the foundations.
Now the rain goes into plastic piping that takes it under the
patio fence and into the storm drains directly.
No more turning the patio into a small lake.
As part of this operation, someone had to (literally) jump over my patio
fence to hook up the rain spout with the plastic piping.
In doing so, he moved the Emergency Supply Box (I gave them
permission, of course.) The
Box is outside because, if the house collapses, or goes up in smoke, how
will you get to the Box if it’s inside?
Once each month, my computer pops up with a reminder for me to check the
ESB. This is something we
should do every month or so.
In the middle of a crisis is not the time to discover that the bottle of
isopropyl alcohol (for sterilizing things) sprang a leak six months ago
and emptied all over those clothes we tucked away.
And speaking of clothes, have we checked them recently?
Do they still fit?
This is when I discovered that the ESB had developed a large crack and a
medium-size hole on the far side, the one against the fence, where I
would never see it. Probably
happened when it was moved.
Nevertheless, it was time to replace the box.
Preferably before the next time it rained and water soaked
everything.
So I went to the Big Orange Hardware Warehouse Store, looking for a good
replacement ESB. And
actually found something that was originally intended to be an oversized
toolbox, with wheels, no less.
If I have to move the ESB, because the house collapsed, or went
up in smoke, at least I’ll be able to get it from Point A to Point B by
myself.
In moving all the objects (first aid supplies, flashlights, batteries,
crank-powered radio, safety pins, plastic tarp, clothesline, duct tape,
etc., etc., etc.), I discovered a disturbing number of large, black
spiders. Actually, I
disturbed the spiders, who didn’t like it one bit.
I can only hope they had just moved in through the aforementioned
new hole in the side. In the
middle of a crisis is also not the time to discover lots of spiders.
The new ESB has much better closures.
And, amazingly, everything fit, due to the fact that the previous
ESB, now occupying a position in the dumpster, was barely half-full.
When The Emergency hits, I’m sure I’ll find plenty of things I wish I’d
thought of, but at least I’ll be able to play Solitaire and read “real”
books for a week. With the
crank-powered flashlight.
Have we checked those batteries recently?
Love, as always,
Pete
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