Ice

I went to bed last night, putting on my cpap.   The power became erratic, and every time the power went out, so did my cpap.  I'd be bolt up and pull it off, unable to breathe.  I finally got smart and left it off.  As I woke this morning, I began to hear crashes.  Tree limbs were falling under the weight of the ice.  I was delighted to discover we still had electricity (which was still erratic). 

We are fortunate.  There is a large tree limb in my front yard, but some of my neighbors have much more to clean up.  We still have power, and much of the city doesn't, including the church.  I called the church, and when voice mail didn't pick up, I suspected that was the case.  We salted the driveway before we left, and I was part way there when Administrative Assistant called.  They were without power, and I asked what the procedure was if we decided we had to cancel worship.  She didn't know-- it had never been done.  She called one of the men, who joined me at the church.  He had been out buying gas for his generator. 

The church was without power, and while it was still warm, and it was too dark to do anything-- we have very small windows in the sanctuary.  I reluctantly agreed we needed to cancel worship.  We put signs on the doors.  We couldn't call anyone from the church, as the phones were out.  I suspect they were out for many of our members, and we don't have a printed list of cell phone numbers-- the numbers we have were all trapped in a powerless computer.  I posted on facebook via my smart phone and came back home.  I had several calls, texts, and emails asking about worship. 

At this point they say it may take several days to get all the power back on.  I hope we can have worship Christmas Eve.  We are still getting more ice, and I wonder if we will end up losing power.  It helps that our utilities are underground, but I know that others with underground utilities are without power, so it's no guarantee.  The one power company you can't even reach, they are so overwhelmed with calls. 

I was supposed to do worship at the nursing home this afternoon.  They were dark when I drove by this morning, but I suppose I should call and check to see if they have power and what the plan is....  I'd rather deal with snow than ice.  Of course, the snow is coming later today, so I'll get to deal with both....