[cromag]

Seven days without power (or water, since we have a well). No traffic signals, etc.

Another 7 days after that without phone/internet service.

By fortunate coincidence, my wife had a long-standing visit to friends in Kansas. Her flight was booked for the Thursday following the storm, and that was the first day her flight out of Newark was flying again -- so, she bolted! Flushing a toilet with a bucket from the tub (only after poop, not after pee) just isn't her style!

We lost one tree from the front yard (which struck only a glancing blow to the house), and the front storm door (which was pried loose and twisted by the wind). We live on the southwestern side of a ridge and the worst winds came from the northeast, so we had a little protection. The neighborhood at the top of the ridge was dramatically hit. My folks live 20 miles north of us and their neighborhood was also badly damaged (150 year old oaks uprooted, etc.) but the winds blew parallel to their house, so none of the big trees hit them, but their yard and the streets were a mess.

My wife also missed the Nor'easter that followed the next week and dropped four inches of snow, but no additional damage to our area.

This is the second time in two years that October has made a fuss on its way out -- last year we got hit by the Halloween blizzard. On the plus side -- the blizzard probably took down all of our weak trees!