a wee tale

windfall in vermont

Dear readers (especially sweet Pomona),

Thank you for all of your thoughtful comments and emails these last few days. Your kindness is really appreciated. 

I'll tell you the quick story of the last few days, and then I will move along with life, because that is the best way forward.

Batman and I had plans to attend the annual celebration of the Vermont Land Trust on Saturday. As the forecasted path of Irene morphed, our plans for the weekend changed more than once. We'll go to Vermont for the weekend...we'll just go to the gathering in Vermont for the day...we'll spend the weekend in Vermont and avoid the brunt of the storm...

Well, we went to the meeting (more about that tomorrow) and afterward, drove on north to our "bit of earth" to hunker in...thinking we might escape the worst of it there. Saturday night's sunset was spectacular, the rain began in the dark, and by Sunday morning we were in the midst of the storm. Power went out around 5PM on Sunday. We lit candles and our little place became magical. We turned on our fabulous radio and became glued to the audio feed. We found a channel that was broadcast from the Vermont Emergency Center in Waterbury. As the evening deepened, so did the gravity of the situation. The broadcast cut out when the emergency center had to be evacuated due to flooding. A bit later, the live feed returned via Burlington. The stories became  more and more urgent, with rescues and news of bridge washouts and houses being swept into the swollen rivers. To read about why this all happened so suddenly, go here.

Finally, we had enough and crawled into bed. We wondered if the howling wind and roaring rain might take off the roof, but finally fell into a fitful sleep. After an overcast dawn, the day turned into a sparkling beauty. (How could that be?) But the immense damage suffered by Vermont became clear as well. The damage suffered is staggering.

We were lucky...high up on the ridge, our damage was minimal. Still, no power, water or telephone made for tough going. Yesterday, after much deliberation, we closed up the house and returned to Connecticut last night. We were reluctant to leave Vermont, but we have lives here in CT that must go on.

We're sure we can be of service in the future, it will take Vermont a long time to recover from the storm of the century.

The sad thing is that our story is but one tiny narrative in a huge story of the wrath of Irene.  Mother Nature is sending us all a message, loud and clear...will we heed her?