By Monday morning the power was out and stayed out. Chickens roosted by flashlight for next 24 hours.
The horses stayed up in their stalls almost 36 hours. They weren't thrilled and kept room service busy around the clock. I have new facial wrinkles to prove it.
The forecast worsened every 12 hours until Irma's path passed directly over us. Joy.
45-55 mph sustained winds and 75 mph gusts.
Are we in Kansas?
By Monday, cabin fever had set in. Unwise at is was, I was zipping on my ATV from house to house checking for damages.
The driving rain and winds soaked and froze me to the core--reminiscent of Winter snowmobiling in Canada. Makes one homesick.
Damages remained minimal. No structural or fence damages. Call it luck with a dash of preparedness. A family across the street had huge trees crush both their vehicles. I do remember hearing them partying and shooting guns on Sunday when Allen and I were in overdrive with storm prep. Despite having preparations of his own to make, Allen came through and helped me immensely. Mark, from Birmingham, even after a severe asthma attack,was determined to make a 6 hour round trip to help too, but I managed to deter him, fearing he'd have difficulties making it home. Friends are always there when you need them, life is good like that. Made better too when we all get through unscathed. A little tired though...
So what if it took us 2 days to put everything back as it was-- we were ready! So what if we spend the next month clearing lawns, shrub beds and trails-- it could've been so much worse.
Now that we have two chainsaws, we can buzz through the biggest trees.
I thought of using the extra time to try to decompress, take two days off and recuperate from the insane work. Life can be a cantankerous cow sometimes. My first day off was spent working in on my doggie Alcatraz project. The second day was to see its completion. Work hijacked my plans and I spent 11 hours there instead of here. I clocked out at 7 PM last night, so frustrated I was ready to start walking back home to Canada. Didn't help either that this marked two months since Cole passed. I went and sat at his grave. He reminded me I was a Smith and we fight, not give up. So, I fought with my fencing past midnight last night. It is done.
So what if my days off are on third shift now.
The little heathen the fence is designed to contain and protect did at least contribute to the effort.
Even if all he did was hang out!
