Irene

Just when the sun was setting a loud cheer went through the neighborhood - the lights were back on we've got electricity!

Irene, although "only" a tropical storm took down many, many trees; and "wind baum kaputt - ohh nein!" (wind tree broken - oh no) is a constant topic in our home. This is a short excerpt recorded on our laptop. This basically covered our conversation on Sunday evening - spanning 2.5hrs:

With the broken trees and branches power and telephone went as well. Many streets were closed due to the downed wires and trees.We lost electricity early Sunday morning (just as 98% of Bristol and 3 Mio people in RI) and got it back tonight - 4.5 days later. Many people are still without power. Joining our neighborhood we ate our way through fridge and freezer, grilling every night - who knew grilled ricotta with chickpeas could be so delicious?

It was a bit like going camping but with a real bed and a roof. We enjoyed sitting by candlelight, listening to news on the hand-cranked radio, and getting up with the birds, seeing everyone out and about, grilling with the neighbors. It's a bittersweet return of the 21st century after 4 1/2 days without power. I am looking forward to a warm shower tomorrow morning, though.