I woke around 4am to Nate standing over me, gently touching my shoulder. Blinking my sleepy eyes I wondered why he had brought me to wakefulness. “There is a transformer outside that is sparking” he said. “I think it’s going to blow shortly and I want to make sure your computer and hard drives are safely unplugged. Is it ok for me to power them down?” I nodded my assent and drifted back to sleep. Not long after came bright flashes of light from outside and then the gentle calm quiet of a house that just lost it’s power.
We slept in under warm blankets, hoping the power would be restored by morning. It wasn’t but the house was still reasonably warm. In recompense for the lost power was a beautiful ice covered world outside. You won’t be surprised that I grabbed my camera for a few chilly minutes outside to take it all in. Beautiful. Destructive. Exciting. Enchanting.
By afternoon the house was quite chilly, so we braved the roads and headed to Company Shops Market. They had posted on Facebook that they had power and were staying open for any locals that could safely make it there for warm food and cell phone charging. We ran into quite a few of our friends and neighbors, chatting about our collective experiences over sandwiches.
We were lucky enough to have our power restored late that evening, unlike an estimated 59,000 people in Alamance County who went to bed without power and heat. There are perks to living close to downtown, the local police and fire house. Being on the same grid with places that get priority service because they are needed in an emergency. We lost a few tree limbs here and there, and a beloved old tree in the backyard. But all in all, we came out relatively unscathed. It is events like these that help me understand how lucky we are. To see friends and community members come together and offer hot showers, a warm place to sleep, a chainsaw and a helping hand. To know that we would be offered the help we needed if we had not been so lucky.
