And there was light...

Last night around 8:15pm our power was restored, our lights came on, our clocks began to work, our A/C kicked in, and our hot water began to flow.  For about 10 minutes, Mike and I ran through the house turning every single thing on and using anything we had not been able to since Saturday.  It was sort of like moving in to a new house.  We are not energy wasters, but for a few minutes we indulged ourselves in the triumphant return of our power. It was good.

And after the fun was over and we knew that things worked and we could once again have clean clothes and bodies, we turned all the lights out.  Throughout the week, Mike and I counted our blessings and used Irene as a reminder of how much we really have and how thankful we are for it.  We drove around at dusk last night to check on some friend's houses in areas of Milford that were very hard hit by the storm.  It was, and is, so sad.  People were working in the dark cleaning out garages and 1st floors of houses, sorting through their lives to find something salvagable.  Our hearts went out to them.  There were points when Mike literally stopped driving, unknowingly.  I hope we will be able to help with some organized clean-up efforts in the near future to help others.

When we got home, we noticed that traffic lights near us had been restored, and as we got closer, the street lights were on.  Our neighbor was sitting outside on his steps when we walked up; he was just staring at the street which looks so different when illuminated than when it was dark and left to our imagination.  We spent our 10 minutes of hysteria running through the house and flipping switches.  And while we were running around we both started to slow down and remark that we actually felt guilty.  We felt bad that we had something that others didn't.  And then, we turned everything off and talked about having spent 4 days in darkness.  It wasn't bad.  We talked more, we read new books (albeit by candlelight), we (and I mean me) perfected our solitaire game.  We played trivial pursuit and exercised our brains.  It was really like camping in our house, with the comforts of a real bed and cushy seating. 

And so, our blessings are counted.  We are thankful.  Our hearts are heavy for those who are still dealing with the aftermath of this storm.  We hope to offer help this weekend and in the future. 

And here is how we spent the rest of the evening until our eyes could not stay open a minute more...

Yours,
Whitney