Here in rural New England (and I hear, in some of the cities, too), we got whomped by a big snow storm Saturday night. We’re not used to getting one-and-a-half or two feet of very wet, heavy snow in October. That’s a bit much! A lot of trees came down, and with them, the electric and phone lines.
We lost phone and power (which means heat, water, and electric) Saturday night. We have a generator now, but yesterday Betsy tried to get gas, and the roads were impassable due to trees being down everywhere, so we didn’t hook up the generator (and seal off the part of the house next to it, so I don’t get gas fumes) till tonight. We have five hours of generator use tonight. That is how I am able to use the computer and internet. We also have a heater. We need to shut it off in about an hour-and-a-half. We got phone service back this evening, which was thrilling.
I’ve blogged before about the ice storm of December 2008, and how traumatic that was for me. This time it’s much less traumatic because we were much more prepared. I also have more help this time, and Betsy’s here, and I am not unable to move or speak, like last time. There have been some moments of fear and sadness and anxiety, but overall, it’s been not too bad.
Barnum has been great! Gadget was never much of a snuggler, but Barnum prefers to spend most of his time hogging my bed. That works well when I am looking for body heat. He is a little furnace! I have particularly been able to put into action the skill I taught for him pressing up against me and laying his head on me. I taught that to help me when I’m feeling agitated, but it turns out it works well for maximizing body heat, too.
He is, however, extremely bored. We haven’t been able to do much training, and he hasn’t been getting as many walks as usual. When I let him outside, he gets the zoomies, and races around and around the yard. When we do train, he is extremely eager!
This has interrupted my ability to keep track of, and do activism for, the 99-percent movement. However, I’ll do what I can when life returns to (more) normal again.
Hope you all are well.
– Sharon, Gadget (I did not like being on furnace duty!), and Barnum, SDiT and producer of body heat
After Gadget 