I went into New York City on Thursday for class and to see Deputy Secretary of the UDSA Kathleen Merigan give a talk on the Know your Farmer Know your Food program they are promoting. I usually regard any government initiative to help the little guy with a heavy dose of skepticism, but It was very interesting and I would take a look at the website. On my way home on Metro North they made an announcement that there was a tree on the tracks and we would be there for an undetermined amount of time. I jokingly said aloud (to anyone who was listening) that there was enough people on the train that we could lift it off. No takers. Then after 5 or so minutes I was informed the tree was down past Garrison station. I was saved! But this was just the beginning of the Snowpocalypse (Apparently, that it was this mess was coined by one the workers at Glynwood)
Getting home was a bit of nail bitter. One of the roads I take was completely blocked by a tree, I got stuck trying to turn around in a unploughed driveway, then had to drive up a steep, slick hill using my tiny two-wheel drive car. The visibility was poor and the roads were bad. The traffic light was out and it presented an ominous warning of what was to come. At home, I couldn't get into my driveway. I had to shovel and sand my way in. The lights were out at home and my husband was away in Texas until Friday. I went to bed hoping Friday would be better.Friday rolls around and I call work at 7 am to see how they were doing and if I should risk trying to drive there. But Cale told me the farm had been hit really hard. Trees were down on the road, they ran out of hay, the tractor had a flat tire, one of the trucks wasn't working. Truly a cluster f---.
I begged my neighbors to let me boil some hot water, for coffee, at their place because they have a propane stove. I then spent the morning shoveling the driveway and trying to park my car out of the path of the plow. In the afternoon, the roads looked a bit better so I went in search of coffee and place to sit and read. I went to one coffee shop in Coldspring that was outright rude to me. She basically told me the place was closing soon (only 2:30pm) and that I couldn't free load because I had no electricity. Wow. Guess where I am never going again. Everything else in the town was closed. Even driving 20 minutes to Fishkill was a big fat waste of time. The Starbucks and Panera were closed, and the roads were starting to get bad again.
Back home I went, to sit in the dark with my dog. I risked watching a movie on my laptop knowing full well I would drain the battery. I didn't even make it half way through before it died. Fortunately, my husband called to tell me that he could come home Friday after all. They originally told him his flight was canceled, but then he got on a later flight. At 11pm, I spent 20 minutes trying to get the car out of the driveway. The French expletives were flying as fast as the mud from my spinning tires. By some miracle I made it out.
To make matters worse, my poor dear husband was sick all night. He got food poisoning in Texas. He ate sushi. Shoulda stuck with the BBQ.
Saturday, we were still without power. By 5 pm I was getting really stir crazy. I made some soup on our heater (thank god we heat with oil!) and then we went to Fishkill to Golds Gym to use the showers. I am really hoping we get some electricity soon. But 150 000 people in the Hudson Valley Area are without power. This could take a while. In the mean time, we are using our heater to melt snow (to flush the toilets) and to warm soup or water for tea. Like the saying goes, necessity breeds invention. Or something like that.
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