THINGS---STORM ALFRED====PEOPLE---STEVE LARSON

 TWO WEEKS AGO I HAD MENTIONED THAT I WOULD BE HEADED OUT TO SOME OF MY FAVORITE SPOTS AND SHOW YOU SOME PICTURES OF MOTHER NATURE’S ARTISTRY WITH HER FALL COLORS SPLASHED ALL OVER THE HILLS AND REFLECTED IN THE LAKES AND RIVERS..WELL I HAD NO IDEA AT THE TIME THAT HER COLOR OF CHOICE WAS GOING TO BE WHITE…SNOW WHITE…HEAVY SNOW WHITE…KNOCKING DOWN TREES AND BREAKING DOWN POWER LINES TYPE OF SNOW WHITE…

SINCE ABOUT SIX-O-CLOCK SATURDAY EVENING ON OCT 28^TH WE HAVE BEEN WITHOUT POWER…IT WAS ONLY RESTORED TODAY (SUNDAY NOV 6^TH ) AT ABOUT FOUR-THIRTY IN THE EVENING…JUST AN HOUR AND A HALF SHORT OF A WEEK AND A DAY WITHOUT ELECTRICITY AND THE CONVENIENCES AND COMFORTS IT BRINGS INTO OUR LIVES…

IT WASN’T TOO LONG BEFORE THINGS STARTED TO GET KIND OF CRAZY…LINES FORMED AT THE ONLY TWO GAS STATIONS IN TOWN THAT HAD POWER…SOME PEOPLE WAITED FOR OVER THREE HOURS TO GET GAS, FIGHTS BROKE OUT AND THE POLICE HAD TO BE CALLED IN TO BRING THINGS UNDER CONTROL…KIND OF ON THE NUTTY SIDE…RELAX…THINGS WILL GET BETTER…MAYBE NOT AS FAST AS WE WOULD LIKE, BUT THINGS WILL COME BACK AROUND…JUST A DAY OR TWO LATER YOU COULD STOP AT SEVERAL PLACES AND GET ALL THE GAS YOU WANTED…LINES FORMED FOR COFFEE, BATTERIES, FLASHLIGHTS, CANDLES…PEOPLE WAITED HOURS FOR GENERATORS ONLY TO BE DISAPPOINTED…IT SEEMED LIKE AN END OF THE WORLD MENTALITY GRIPPED A LARGE NUMBER OF USUALLY SANE AND RATIONAL FOLKS…

IN SPITE OF LOSING ELECTRICITY FOR OVER A WEEK I WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES…WE HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD ANGEL…ONE OF THOSE TYPE OF GUYS THAT SEEMS TO BE HAPPIEST WHEN HE’S HELPING OTHERS, WHETHER IT’S CLEARING A DRIVEWAY IN THE FROZEN DEAD OF WINTER, CUTTING UP A FALLEN TREE, PUMPING OUT A FLOODED BASEMENT, OR (AS A MORE RECENT EXAMPLE) HOOKING UP AS MANY HOUSES AS HE CAN TO HIS GENERATOR..IN GLARING CONTRAST TO THE MANY EXAMPLES OF NEAR HYSTERIA, MY FRIEND, STEVE LARSON, EMERGES AS A CALM, COLLECTED AND ‘READY TO DEAL WITH THINGS AS THEY HAPPEN’ TIRELESS TYPE OF GUY…THANKS TO HIM SEVERAL HOUSEHOLDS MAINTAINED A DEGREE OF COMFORT THAT WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE…WHICH IN TURN ALLOWED THOSE HOUSEHOLDS TO OFFER WARMTH AND A DEGREE OF COMFORT TO STILL OTHERS…

WELL THE WORST IS OVER FOR NOW (FOR US ANYWAY)…IT WAS FAR FROM BEING A DISASTER…IT WAS A STORM, A BAD ONE…IT DIDN’T MERIT THE PANIC AND BEHAVIOR THAT SOME DISPLAYED…NOT THE END OF THE WORLD—BUT—IF IT WAS THE END OF THE WORLD I WOULD WANT TO BE ON STEVE’S SIDE FOR SURE…THANKS, STEVE FOR ALL YOUR HELP..   

SUNDAY I GOT ON THE BIKE AND FIGURED ON TAKING SOME PHOTOS OF THE AFTERMATH...BELIEVE ME, THERE WAS NO SHORTAGE OF PHOTO OPPS...THESE ARE JUST A VERY FEW OF THE SIGHTS THAT WERE OUT THERE...

THERE WERE MANY ROADS THAT WERE BLOCKED OFF AND SOME WERE JUST COVERED WITH FALLEN POLES AND TREES...COULDN'T POSSIBLY POST ALL THE PICTURES I TOOK BUT THESE WERE OF THE MORE EASILY ACCESSIBLE SPOTS...AS FAR AS OUR PLACE GOES WE ONLY LOST FIVE SMALLER TREES AN EASY CLEAN UP WILL BEGIN SOMETIME IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO AFTER I GET MY MIND RIGHT...HERE'S OUR NEIGHBORHOOD HERO--STEVE LARSON WITH HIS MONSTER GENERATOR...FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE REGULAR READERS YOU'VE HEARD ME MENTION HIM BEFORE...WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE HIGH-SCHOOL AND STEVE'S FAMILY IS HELD IN HIGH REGARD IN BRISTOL CONNECTICUT (LARSON'S FARM WAS A BRISTOL LANDMARK SINCE 1939)...IF IT'S MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, OR SOMETHING TO DO WITH PLANTS, STEVES GOT THE ANSWERS...IF YOU'RE INTO GARDENING AT ALL CHECK OUT HIS BOOKLET  "GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR VEGETABLE GARDEN"  EMAIL HIM FOR ONE AT       vermontfarmer@yahoo.com 

  LET'S SEE--SO FAR THIS YEAR ONE HURRICANE, ONE TROPICAL STORM, ONE EARTHQUAKE AND A FREAK STORM THAT SLAPPED DOWN A WHOLE LOT OF FOLKS AND ALL THEIR PLANS FOR THE BETTER PART OF A WEEK AND A COUPLE OF DAYS...
                                                           ***********************
                                           HOPEFULLY--MAYBE NEXT WEEK I'LL GET TO
                                            SHARE SOME OF THOSE FALL FOLIAGE SPOTS
                                                               THAT I LOVE SO MUCH
                                          ( IF THERE'S STILL SOME TREES LEFT STANDING)
                                                           STAY WARM---STAY SAFE
                                                                                *******
      FRIDAY THE 11th IS VETERANS DAY---TELL THEM THANKS---BUY THEM A COFFEE
                                         SHAKE THEIR HAND---IT MEANS A LOT TO US
                                                                                   ****
                                                                  SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
                                                                                   JIM