Wednesday Update

Woke up this morning and it was really cold but the sun was finally shining.   Birds were everywhere – covering all the trees and bushes, and flying around.

We ate some breakfast, and went walking around the block.   Most of the street was blocked by trees.  Entire blocks were impassable by vehicle, and difficult to walk on foot.

We heard rumors that the north-side of Dickson Street had power, as did Panera Bread Company.   The roads were pretty clear, minus for the fallen trees, so we decided that a hot lunch was in order.

We borrowed Chet’s 4-wheel drive vehicle, and headed off the mountain.   Jill, Alishia, and myself went to Panera where there was heat, free hot coffee, hot food, and electricity.   Cell phones and digital cameras were recharged.   Everyone was in good spirits, and happy to be someplace warm.    Jill bought some cinnamon scones for breakfast the next day.  Panera is my hero.  Apparently, some people later came into Panera and were angrily complaining that they were out of food and free coffee.

We went to the Walmart Supercenter, and bought some things for Chet and headed back home.

By the time we got home, the phone lines were down.   I checked on the fish, and discovered that all three of my remaining aquariums were dead.  With no electricty, the heaters and filters won’t work.   I was expecting this to happen.   I was particularly saddened by losing my two oldest fish – a Marble Sailfin Plecostamus and a Tilapia buttikoferi (Jill’s mom named him “Filet”).  I’ve had the buttikoferi since December 2002, and the plec a few years longer.

We lit a fire, settled in, and ate some cold chicken and a salad for dinner.

Sometime in the evening, the lights on the other mountain (Lovers Lane and those roads) came on.

By the time we went to bed, it was 47 degrees in the house.