Old World HOME!

Who knew that just a couple days after visiting Old World Wisconsin that we would be experiencing an aspect of living in the Old World?

Monday morning we woke around 7:30 a.m. to what we thought would be a normal day and week even though we were getting a late start.   After opening up the east side shades and curtains to a bright morning sun, Kevin decided to run on the treadmill because of the humidity.  I went about getting the girls breakfast. 

About 7:55 a.m. the sky became dark and the wind began to blow.  All of a sudden Kevin saw out our bedroom window a patio chair go flying by.  He had me turn on the t.v. to see if we were under a tornado warning.  The t.v. was on for about 30 seconds, just enough time for me to see that it simply said we were under a thunderstorm warning, when the power went off.  For the next 10 minutes the wind blew like none other.  The trees were sideways, out front of our house branches were falling into the street, and then the sky opened and a sheet of rain came down.  It looked like you were in a car wash.  And again, this was for just about 10 minutes.  That is it.

At 8:20 a.m. the air was calm.  Sofia commented how the trees in the backyard looked tired.  No doubt they were.  They had just survived 70 mph plus winds.

Unfortunately many trees did not survive.  They landed on cars, homes, and power lines.  850,00 people in the Chicagoland lost power due to a Derecho.

For the next 79 hours (Monday 8 a.m. to Thursday 3 p.m.) we learned to appreciate life without electricity.  Monday was hot and humid and the night was a little rough but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were pretty nice days and the nights were cool.  Some friends who didn't lose power stored our freezer food and ice chests became our refrigerator.  Days were spent outside and evenings were spent reading in the candlelight.  Bedtime came early for all of us.  Thankfully our church's power came back on Tuesday so Kevin was able to work and we were able to charge our phones.  We also took advantage of the church laundry room and did a load.:)

So yes.  We survived 79 hours without electricity.  But we had indoor plumbing, a gas stove to cook and boil water, and a grill .  Our water heater is electric so we did have short showers but really that was probably the most inconvenienced we were. 

And what's the first thing I did when the power came back on?  VACUUM!!!!!!