Off Grid

The snowstorm that blew in Wednesday morning was not a surprise. However, it dumped 8” of wet, heavy snow onto trees that hadn’t yet lost their leaves because we’ve had such a warm fall. I was listening to the scanner and hearing calls for tree branches taking power lines down all over the county. Shortly after we woke up, we lost power here. The husband went out and started up the generator. Our generator is wired into the house and shop with transfer switches to move us from the grid to the generator. The generator is big enough to run everything, although we try to minimize our power usage when we have to use it.

The power came on briefly mid-morning, then went out again. The second time, it stayed out. And when the power is out, the internet goes out, even with the generator running. I am not sure why that happens. My phone is a mobile hotspot, but we live where the signal is weak on a good day, and our house has a metal roof. If I stand on one foot next to the window in the upstairs bathroom and hold my phone just so, I sometimes get a strong enough signal to get internet access.

I puttered. I talked to the music teacher, who canceled rehearsal for that afternoon because the church where we planned to meet didn’t have power, either. I cooked. I sat and worked on my embroidery projects.

Late in the afternoon, I texted Robin. She and I were supposed to go to Spokane this weekend. She had power at her house. I said I would see what things were like when we woke up Thursday morning and reassess.

I don’t often change travel plans because of weather. If I did that, I would never go anywhere. I’ve raced storms back here from the west coast. I’ve driven over Snoqualmie Pass in a snowstorm. I’ve been in fog so thick I had no idea where I was. I’ve been caught under microbursts where I couldn’t see the front end of my car. If I can avoid really awful weather, though, I will. We were still without power yesterday morning. The forecast for Spokane includes high winds and snow for this evening. Both of our kids were in school in Spokane the first week of November, 2015, when Spokane got a windstorm so strong that DD#1 was without power at her house for six days. Even if Robin and I could have gotten to Spokane yesterday, I had no desire to be stuck in an Airbnb without electricity or heat. I texted Robin and we agreed to cancel the trip.

[I’m trying not to be bummed about this. I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. We’ve had such a hard time coordinating our schedules to make a trip like this happen. We’ll reschedule, yes, but it likely will be months out.]

The husband left me instructions for refueling the generator and went to work. I headed upstairs to sew. I had a productive day. I pulled out some sparkly gray Robert Kaufman ponte, purchased specifically to make another pair of Renee pants. I lack party clothes, and even if I only wear these once or twice a year, at least I will have them. I also made another Harper Cardigan, this time out of some deep pink rayon French terry from Girl Charlee Fabrics. This fabric is almost identical to the royal blue rayon French terry I got at Walmart.

We were eating dinner when I happened to notice that the lights on the modem were lit up, which meant the power had been restored. The husband went out to switch us back to the grid and turn off the generator. I appreciate the hard work that the linemen put in, because they had an enormous job. The county dispatchers were also working overtime. Unfortunately, we’re now under a high wind watch for tonight into tomorrow morning. These are supposed to be southwest winds, which means we probably won’t take the brunt of them like we do when they come from the northeast, but they could cause additional power outages.

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I’m trying not to roll my eyes at some of the posts and comments on the local Facebook group. I am failing miserably.

“We just moved here. Does the power go out frequently? Where we used to live, all the power lines were underground.” Please do not make me say what I am thinking. And yes, the power goes out once a week or so.

“Does anyone know what brands of generators aren’t noisy?” All generators are noisy. It’s part of their charm.

“We did not expect it to snow so soon!” OH, FOR PETE’S SAKE, THIS IS MONTANA. There is a reason it’s not a very populated state.

Some people are in for a very rude awakening. That warm fall was exactly the head fake I thought it was going to be. Mother Nature is not messing around. The high on Monday is supposed to be 17 degrees. Welcome to Montana. I hope you brought your long underwear. You’re going to need it.

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I’m personally trying to manage my own expectations—I may not be able to travel as much this winter as I’ve been used to doing. It is what it is. We’ll be tucked up snug and warm here no matter what happens.

And because the blog needs a picture, here is my almost-finished Squash Squad block #1. (I still have to sew some small buttons into the blue circles.)