Failure, but not really.

Written on September 2, 2011.

Well, as you can most certainly tell, I failed BEDA. However, it was not for lack of trying on my part.

You see, I live in an area that pretty much got the crap kicked out of it by Tropical Storm Irene. Because of Irene, my family ended up staying an extra day at the hotel. Frankly, I wasn't complaining about that, because I got to go to the picnic on Monday, and spend more time with my friends who I rarely get to see.

When we finally made it home on Monday night, it was to a house without electric lights, flush toilets, a way to cook, keep food cold, running water for a shower, a telephone, and yes...no internet either. Prior to that time, I was feeling pretty good about BEDA, since I had written an extra blog so that if I was tired on Monday, I wouldn't have to worry about failing this project.

On the way home from the conference, it was abundantly clear as to WHY we had no power. Everywhere I looked, trees had collapsed on power lines, sometimes blocking an entire road. And I'm not exaggerating when I say you could not go a quarter of a mile down pretty much any given road before you saw another tree, upended on power lines. Driving around at night was particularly weird. No traffic lights, no friendly glow from people's living rooms, no street lamps, no floodlights on front lawns, just...nothing. After arriving home that first night, we all sort of stopped and stared at the sky. I'm telling you, it has never been so clear, and I have never seen so many stars. It was beautiful.

One of my mothers, Nay works for the power company, and she's still working 6am-10pm every day, trying to fix all the damage from Irene. At first, my town didn't have a single person with power. We were 100% dark. And we weren't the only ones, by far. As of yesterday, there isn't a single town in my state that is completely up and running.

I have to say, despite the fact that we didn't have any of the conveniences that we were used to, it wasn't all horrible. In fact, we actually had company staying with us until Wednesday. A couple of friends came back from the conference with us, and we had a lovely time. Hauling water from the brook to flush the toilet with wasn't fun, but sitting around a campfire and playing guitar, squeezebox and eating baked potatoes with friends certainly was. Our days were filled with music that we made ourselves, flying kites, wonderful conversations, and meals eaten by candle-light.

When something like this happens, it really shows you how many people care. We've had some really wonderful people who have brought us food, water, and let us use their showers.

I'm so grateful for my friends, my family, and above all, running water and flush toilets.

~Whimsy