Happy news

We've lost power almost every night for the last week, usually only about 10 to 15 minutes though. Last night, however, the power stayed constant.

Puget Sound Energy puts the blame almost entirely on those of us who have trees on our properties or who enjoy them on public land. Its all our fault, apparently, that PSE doesn't bury their powerlines around here. And yes, we've taken part in their tree cutting program, I gave them permission to trim my willow tree - which they hacked instead so I'm a bit sarcastic about the whole thing. Forgive me.

PSE reports that 60% of their powerlines are underground, which confonds me, as all I ever see are suspended power lines wherever I go. The article itself isn't too bad, but comments like "The Dec. 14-15 2006 windstorm was a natural disaster of historic proportions" & folks talking about parallels to what happened during Katrina make me snarl. Sorry.

But hey, things are looking up. We kept power all night, that's more than 75% of the rest of the world right now.

"Everyone complains about the weather but no one does anything about it"

Mark Twain's immortal words, if you were wondering where you've heard that before.

My father is a Weather Channel addict, much to Mum's horror I assure you. I've always made fun of him, but then again he begins every phone conversation with in depth knowledge about your weather and asks how you're coping with it. Now I realize that there's something to be said about getting more concerned about the weather as you age. Our bodies react so differently to the weather as we age from migraines, aches & pains, joints, chillbains, etc. and that's not even counting what it does to your spirit. And it only gets worse each day you're on the planet. I never knew anyone with Seasonal Affective Disorder until I moved to Washington, yet now I'm hanging out with friends under their special lights and not thinking twice about it. Even considered getting one for the living room a time or two.

I've seen all kinds by now; tornadoes in MA, ice storms in VT, blizzards in Brooklyn, Nor'Easters on Long Island, munsoons in Arizona, El Ninos, La Ninas, heatwaves in Germany, the London fog, hurricanes in NYC and droughts just about everywhere. And yet, I've never been more affected by them than I am now. Just driving home from work tonight I passed the Tsunami Route signs and shuddered. Walking across the yard and your shoeprints are immediately back-filled with water, the ground is so saturated. There is no dirt, its all mud. Even the bookstore's roof is leaking and I spent hours moving books away from the leaking wall and cover the wood bookcases with tarps this afternoon. Back at home, took two men working all day today to prop up the fence from both sides and make sure the tarp is lashed down tightly over the center of the rabbit enclosure. With temperatures below freezing expected for a week, I'm already mulling over how we're going to handle it.

As a grandchild of farmers & orchard keepers, I stand in awe at my ancestors and how they managed to keep themselves and their property taken care of.