The "Braving The Storms" Story

It was an ordinary day.  The cat is attempting to get us up.  As soon as Creamsicle begins to see daylight in the early morning, he decides that it is time to eat and go out.  And, to do that, he must awaken his housemates.  That would be Carol and me.  Runs through the upstairs hall, rounds the bottom of our bed and takes a flying leap onto the bottom of our bed with claws digging into bedding and skin.  But, he doesn't stop there.  He continues across both of us and then leaps off the bed and back through the hall.  After a few minutes, if he doesn't hear the rustling of the covers on the bed, he repeats his course.  On and on it goes until I either get out of bed or I try to grab him during one of his runs and tell him to knock it off.  He almost always wins.  That's why he does it!!  I throw on a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt and head down the steps with him, hoping I don't trip over the 15 pound cat as he weaves between my legs on the steps.  I grab a can of pate cat food, put half on a dish for him and stick the other half in a bowl for whomever may be waiting outside the back door.  

After turning off the house alarm I turn the lock on the back door and open it.  Creamsicle tries to time it just right so he can hustle out the door and grab some of the outdoor food before he makes his rounds of the neighborhood.  Today was different.  He stopped by the back door and stood there, looking over the layer of ice that coated the back deck.  Over night we experienced a winter storm that dropped a couple of inches of snow which then turned to freezing rain.  This is on top of the 8 inches of heavy snow we had two days ago.  The cat decided that he didn't want to experience the neighborhood today and backed away from the door.  I stepped gingerly onto the deck and put the food in place.  Felt I could brave the ice and headed to the drive to retrieve the morning paper.  

It was icy, really icy!  Came back in and turned on the TV to find that most everything was either closed or was in the process of closing.  I saw on the news the amount of damage that had already been done by falling trees and power lines.  Called up to Carol telling her that she didn't have to go to work today.  Then I added some outerwear and tried to knock some of the ice and snow from the many trees I have around the acre property we call home.  A few hours later my son Derek called to inquire if we were OK.  Told me that they had just lost power and he was going to put some wood in the fireplace to keep the house warm.  He said he awoke during the night when a large limb fell behind the house.  

Both my sons live on the same block in a wooded area to the west of Lancaster city.  Derek said he could hear trees and branches falling all around him so he had the family move to the basement, then moved his cars onto the street where it was less likely the trees would damage them.  He told me as we talked that one tree landed on his patio and destroyed the patio and the furniture on it.  Another landed in his drive exactly where both the cars had been parked.  My grandson had no school and my daughter-in-law was not going to work, but Derek had to be at work at noon.  I called back shortly afterward to tell them they could stay with us if needed.  Then I got a call from my other son Tad who gave me the same reports.  Said he could hear trees and branches falling as we spoke on the phone.  

By the time darkness had arrived, there still was no power and the electric company's website said it would be back on in three days.  Wow!  My youngest son shut the water off in his house and drained the lines, grabbed a load of wash and his work clothes and headed to our place for some relief from the cold.  Derek and his family thought they could stay warm with the fireplace and said they would stick it out for the night.  Tad was sitting with us watching "Modern Family" when he got a Text.  Power was back on!!  He told us, "If I knew the power would come back on after I came to your place, I would have come sooner."  Well, the laundry went back in his basket and after a meal and TV he thanked us and headed home.  Another storm has been predicted to dump feet instead of inches on our area in another day, but luckily the forecast changed this morning and we will only get flurries from that.  Allegedly!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.