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(and no generator), the power finally came back on last night around 7:45 PM. I heard the welcoming click of the cable boxes rebooting as well as the chirp from the microwave, and I saw a hint of light coming from Dad's bedroom. He'd left the light over his bed on so he would know when the power returned. I held my breath, waiting to see if it would stay on--some folks have had it come back, then go back off--and when it did, I went in and reset both the microwave clock and the oven clock. Dad was out riding the bicycle around the block; he came in and beat me to the bathroom, flushing the toilet and finally ridding the room of the stinky smell. After about an hour, when he was sure we had HOT running water again, he went in and washed the dishes that had been accumulating in the sink. Dishes in the sink drive him crazy <g>. Just in case, we tried to go easy on the power usage last night, only turning on enough lights to see where we were at, turning on one computer at a time, not turning on the TV until much later (I often have my TV on as I sit and watch YouTube videos or read posts on SZ). The power fizzled out again at 10:00 PM but by the time I finished yelling "You have GOT to be kidding me!", it came back on. And stayed on, hopefully for good 😁

It has been...interesting, being without power that long. This is the first time we didn't have running water the entire time we had no power (the faucets stopped flowing late Saturday night). I had to replace the batteries in my "flashlight" twice (I love this thing--it's BRIGHT). Dad got bags of ice into the fridge pretty quickly but we still had a few dicey meals: chicken that had thawed, ground beef that had also thawed, scrambled eggs, some once frozen egg rolls. As much as Dad doesn't seem to care about how long something cooked has been in the fridge, or how much mold he has to scrape off something, he is absolutely fanatic about making sure meat is cooked to the proper temperature. Everything we ate hot, we heated on a propane stove set up in the kitchen, except for the ground beef, which we cooked on the fire pit Saturday night. Since we didn't want to waste the beef, we each had two quarter pound burgers...I don't want beef again till maybe fall <g>. I went once to McDonald's and once to a local library (not "my" library in town, as they were still without power as of yesterday afternoon) to charge my laptop so I could at least play some offline games at night when it was dark and I was bored of reading. Yes, I got bored of reading...I finished one book and read two others in 5 days. I charged my phone once at work and again yesterday at church; Dad also filled up some empty water jugs at church so we'd have something fresh, if not cold, to drink. And a very kind neighbor with a very big generator let me shower twice at her house. Mindful of how much power I was using, I kept my showers super short...I've not shaved my legs since the Sunday before last (TMI!).

I'm still so very, very grateful no one was hurt and we didn't have more damage. The tornado must've touched down at the north end of our street, considering how many trees (and power lines and one unfortunate speed limit sign) snapped. The worst hit yards belong to a man in his mid 80s who still lives alone and an elderly woman who just recently became a widow...neighbors with chainsaws went over and took care of what they could in their yards. As much as I (and everyone else) didn't WANT the bad weather, it has brought out the best of people. Neighbors helping neighbors. Everyone asking everyone if they need anything. Yesterday afternoon, a guy from our church offered us his generator...we declined because by then, the food in the fridge/freezer was a loss and we didn't think the small generator could power much else.

I also want to thank the folks out there working tirelessly to restore power. I heard on the news this morning (which I got to watch for the first time in almost a week <sobs happily>) that crews from 17 different states came to help restore power to Ohio. We went from over 300,000 without power to "just a few thousand". Too many people complain about how long it takes to get their power restored...I'm impressed by how many people already have their power back. Those workers from First Energy, the Illuminating Company and all the other small companies that are putting up poles, restringing line and cutting down trees* are heroes in my eyes.

* we had so many trees down that almost every road out of town in any direction had a blockage somewhere. For about three days, I could only go about a quarter mile if I turned right out of my block. Thankfully, "town" and my workplace both require a left turn.