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the difference of christmas this year
Dec. 24th, 2008 01:19 pmmy parents lost power last night -- an ice-covered branch felled the power lines that go to their whole street, and the power company is giving no estimates of repair time. thousands are also without power, some for nearly a week. it seems the entire portland area is paralyzed more than usual, though i suppose it's only fair -- this is apparently the worst storm in 40 years. we have over a foot and a half of snow at our house, plus about an inch of ice under that.
so without power, they don't have water because the well pump is electric, and the heating is out because they have radiant heat under the floors. my dad is buying a generator to prevent the radiant pipes from freezing, and also to run the water pump if possible, and if we end up going there, i hope we can plug in the christmas tree, too. there's the gas fireplace for warmth and the gas stovetop to cook on.
later today, my sibs kate and josh are driving over to our house to take showers, check email, escape the toddler for a brief while and generally relieve boredom. at that point i suppose we are going to go with them, and sleep overnight at my parents' house as originally planned, just with a slightly more pioneering feel to things. my mom has the oil hurricane lamps out, lots of candles.
christmas sure is different this year. with money tight, we were never planning to have an extravagant holiday. but now since we can't drive anywhere, kirk and i don't even have presents for each other. this morning we made each other christmas cards, something that is worth more to me than any present could be. i have one simple present for every person in my family, some of it homemade, wrapped in fabric furoshiki, some of it repurposed stocking stuffers as gifts. i might be a little bored after being cooped up in this house for the ninth straight snowday, but this christmas sure will be memorable, and it's made me count my blessings. this is the year that 30 miles seemed a long way to go to visit our nearest and dearest. the year we were grateful to have escaped waves of layoffs. the year we didn't take power and food for granted. the year just spending time with people was a greater gift than anything else.
so without power, they don't have water because the well pump is electric, and the heating is out because they have radiant heat under the floors. my dad is buying a generator to prevent the radiant pipes from freezing, and also to run the water pump if possible, and if we end up going there, i hope we can plug in the christmas tree, too. there's the gas fireplace for warmth and the gas stovetop to cook on.
later today, my sibs kate and josh are driving over to our house to take showers, check email, escape the toddler for a brief while and generally relieve boredom. at that point i suppose we are going to go with them, and sleep overnight at my parents' house as originally planned, just with a slightly more pioneering feel to things. my mom has the oil hurricane lamps out, lots of candles.
christmas sure is different this year. with money tight, we were never planning to have an extravagant holiday. but now since we can't drive anywhere, kirk and i don't even have presents for each other. this morning we made each other christmas cards, something that is worth more to me than any present could be. i have one simple present for every person in my family, some of it homemade, wrapped in fabric furoshiki, some of it repurposed stocking stuffers as gifts. i might be a little bored after being cooped up in this house for the ninth straight snowday, but this christmas sure will be memorable, and it's made me count my blessings. this is the year that 30 miles seemed a long way to go to visit our nearest and dearest. the year we were grateful to have escaped waves of layoffs. the year we didn't take power and food for granted. the year just spending time with people was a greater gift than anything else.
