Power went out early this morning, and hasn’t come back on.

Another scheduled talk with Darlene.  It’s a good thing the township hall is only four miles down the road from me.  I might be using up my allotted gas just going to meetings.  But that will last only as long as the roads are open.  The weather was mild until yesterday, when the temps dropped into the 20’s and we got a dusting of snow.  This is just the beginning.  Average snowfall here is almost 200” in a season, and I’ve seen as much as 360”.  If that happens NO one will be getting around.

Darlene’s office has only one small window, and with the gloomy skies, it was dark in there.  Thinking ahead, I had brought one of my battery operated lanterns, and set that on her desk while we went over our lists.   She looked longingly at it, so I told her she could keep it.  I didn’t tell her I had a few more.  Though I did remind her it took batteries, and she needed to get some from Joe.

We decided to post important notices here at the township hall and duplicate ones at the post office.  There hasn’t been any new mail in a few days, but DJ is there anyway; besides, the office area where our boxes are is open 24/7, and a good place for leaving important information.  Fram’s is another place for notices.  The first notice will be a special town meeting for Friday at noon.

Considering the fuel delivery disruption, we discussed the rationing issue and decided to just shutting down Joe’s gas supply and saving it for the EMS, Fire trucks and the road crews, eliminating the rationing; people might be more accepting of that.  If someone needed gas, maybe to leave, it would be allotted on a case by case determination.  Of course a few of us would need a few gallons each week just to get to the offices: Darlene, myself, Pete our township handy man, Mike the fire chief, and Linda, the newly elected Clerk; everyone else lives within walking distance.  It might be a long time before any more fuel comes available, so I think it was a wise move.  Darlene’s come around quickly, I think partly because her brother Daryl, the former supervisor, is a nurse in the city and has relayed some real horror stories about these past few days.  Thankfully, she’s willing to work with me as a joint effort to ensure the safety of the town.  Truthfully, I’d rather she be in front, but she doesn’t have a dark side like I do.

We’ve now got a more accurate view of our resources and a better picture of our needs.  We both had lists of who was where that might need help; I’ll combine them into one list later tonight when I get back home.  Our biggest dilemma is going to be food.  I said I was working on something but I needed to talk to Pastor Carolyn first.  Darlene seemed satisfied with that; I think she just doesn’t want to dwell on it with so much else going on.  I was not about to shatter her snow-globe world with the fact that food was really our major concern, or would be shortly.

We now have lists of everyone over 65 (I was surprised at how many that was), and how many of those were living alone; everyone who was handicapped or had medical issues; who were known hunters; who had wood burning stoves (this was a guess on our part); and who had a CPL.   I had to educate Darlene that it meant a Concealed Pistol License.  Which reminds me, I need to call Donna & Paul, and Bob about being deputized.  Thankfully the cell phones are still working.  The tower I see from my computer room has a massive battery system that is constantly being charged by the grid; when the power is out the batteries take over and can last a week.  After that……………….. no more cell, no more internet.

More news from the disaster zones:  Tent cities are going up all around the east coast, trying to shelter the victims from hurricane Sandy, but with the nor’easter that hit right after it seems to be a losing battle for FEMA and the Red Cross. People are angry, really angry; mostly at the government for not doing more; and just what are they supposed to do?  Those that are screaming the loudest are the ones who refused to get out of the hit zone before the hurricane made landfall.  I still don’t understand that mentality.  I just don’t.

The news helicopter photos of Mississippi are surreal; it’s like clips from a bad movie.  One report said the National Guard was called in, but another said the Army.  Maybe it’s both.  One interesting, and sad, was the destruction of a zoo, I don’t remember exactly where.  Buildings were toppled, and fences ripped down by the falling debris; which means animals are on the loose.   I must be getting punchy, all I can think is ‘Lions, and Tigers and Bears. Oh, my!’ … it’s late and bad jokes are not my style.  I need some sleep.

The house was really cold when I got home: I was gone so long the stove fire had gone out.  I’m better to ask Tom if he would come over during the day and put a couple of logs when I’m gone so long. A big advantage to my brother being right across the road: he’s close and I trust him with the keys.  With the wood stove cold, I used up some propane and lit the gas stove with a match.  Mac & cheese for dinner, not very nourishing, but it was hot and quieted my grumbling stomach. I still couldn’t sleep.