Livin like a refugee

I never thought I'd be a refugee. It's always other people in those situations, right? People who live where there's been a hurricane or earthquake or something. Well, yesterday, I was one of those people.

The massive snowstorm in the Plains missed us, but we got plenty of ice instead. It knocked out the power for a few hours Saturday, and then went off again at about 2 a.m. Sunday. I had hoped it would be back on by daylight or shortly after, but no such luck. I had to work at the paper yesterday, to get our New Year's Day edition out, and I felt glad to be where there was heat and light, but guilty about being there while Mom and Dad were stuck back here with no power.

I tried to keep Mom updated on what was going on whenever we heard something at work about when the power might be back, the shelter in town, etc., and each time I talked to her she sounded more and more tired. When we talked around 6 p.m., the power company spokesman was pretty confident the power would be on within a few hours in our town. But when I talked to Mom after the press was running at 7 p.m., she just sounded like she couldn't take much more. I asked if she and Dad would just like to come in to town anyway, and that what we did. I know when I was driving to work, just having the heater in the car was such a relief both physically and mentally. And I hadn't put up with the cold all day.

They got into town shortly after 8 p.m., and we went and got some hot food at Sonic, the first either of them had had in more than 24 hours, then headed to the shelter at the university. They had it set up in a few of the gyms and racquetball courts where the coliseum and health-type classes and recreational activities are. They even allowed pets! The local humane society loaned them some pet carriers, and they had us set up in a racquetball court near an exit, where we could easily take him out when needed. We were the only ones in that room, but there were a few other people from our town as well as a few travelers at the shelter. A unit of the National Guard stopped in sometime during the night as well. They've been out delivering fuel to areas without power so people can run their generators.

Oddly enough,I think I met more people from this town at the shelter than I have living here for four years (guess that says a lot about me, huh?). The county emergency services coordinator lives here, as does the president of the local Red Cross chapter, and an assistant to our congressman who works in his office out here, plus one of the campus policemen. And then there were the three older ladies the emergency services coordinator had convinced to come in out of the cold. All were pretty nice folks. And they all liked Nipper, too. He snuck out of the court a few times and had to go see everyone.

The cots weren't too bad, and I'm surprised how well I slept, once Nipper settled down. Since there weren't any other animals in there with us, we left him out of the carrier, and he wandered around a bit, not quite sure in that strange place how to tell us he needed to go out or that he was thirsty. But once we got all that figured out, he settled down on a blanket next to my cot, and we all fell asleep pretty fast. I was surprised when I woke up to use the bathroom and found it was almost 6 a.m.

We all started waking up about then, and Mom and Dad got some coffee at the main camp-out room, where they heard the power had come on at home around 10 p.m. and did stay on all night. That was the main concern, that it wouldn't stay on because of all the ice on the lines and the wind blowing them around. But when we got home, it was warm and everything was OK. We had lost a big branch off the old cottonwood Saturday, and one of the willow trees by the creek is down, but that seems to be the only damage here. Lots of other branches down around town, too.

I was still tired after we got home, despite sleeping pretty good, so I crawled into bed for a nap, and Mom stayed up to watch the Tournament of Roses parade, her tradition. Nipper is pretty bushed, too, and slept quite a bit.

The tree are still covered with ice, and just awhile ago, the sun came out and it was quite pretty. I took some pictures -- with film, so you'll have to wait to see them. I'm not really sure a picture can capture what we saw with the eye, however. Amazing how nature can be so brutal one day, and the next so beautiful.

Hopefully, that will be the big event of 2007. I'm off now for a piece of my birthday cake.