a few good candles...

Some of you have heard tell of our latest adventures... and since you have already heard about them, I'm not sure if I should post them... but for the sake of posterity, and my own personal amusement in reflection thereupon, I now document the goings-on of September 14th and 15th.


It was on these days in question the remnants of hurricane Ike reached us here in Ohio. We knew it was coming.


September 14th began as any other Sabbath Day... which is, in and of itself, always worth recounting. It was not until the late afternoon that Ike showed himself. Frankly, I was disappointed. Sure, it the winds were strong, bending the trees behind our appartment in half... and there were moments when I was sure the roof would blow off... but it didn't-- and from what I could tell, all our trees were intact. In fact, there was a possy of hoodlums playing in the wind, soooooooo.... yeah-it didn't seem like a big deal. No thunder-no lightning-no rains- and consequently, no floods.

Mark and I were going to watch a movie... we were about 15 minutes into it, when we lost power. It flickered off and on for a few minutes... and by 4:00 p.m. it was out.

We played chess... which, surprisingly, I won. Then, we played with Mel, talked to our families on our cell phones, and I don't even know what else.... all the while, we were losing daylight. Finally, it was dark-we had not even lit a candle.

We roosted around, found only these. Thank you Mary! Yep... no lanterns, no flashlights, just these... three tea-light candles, and a scented candle.

So it was dark, but not Mel's bed time yet... and he was getting very upset... but not sleepy... and I couldn't see a thing that I was doing.

Mark went to Walmart, Meijer, and Target....but returned disappointed, and nearly emptyhanded. Apparently we didn't panick soon enough because by the time he got to all these stores, everyone had bought everything.... except for Walmart... which still had small flashlights for 30 bucks.

Knowing Mark, what do you think he did? Correct. He bought another small scented candle, and came home. He refused to overpay for the flashlight--thus giving into supply and demand prices. That night, none of slept easy. Just kidding. Mark always sleeps easy, but Mel and I were up ALL night. It was strange--Mel usually sleeps very well... so when he woke for the 5th time that night at 3:00 a.m. screaming bloody murder and refusing to nurse, I thought maybe he had an ear infection. I was doing everything in my power, bouncing, rocking, singing, and attempting to nurse time and again. I tried to take his temperature... which I did, but then couldn't make out becuase it was pitch black and I was working by aid of scented candle.

It was horrible.

The next day the power still was out--so we took refuge at a hotel that did have power... it was nice enough, though the shower curtain was very moldy. Mel still didn't sleep well, but at least there I could see what I was doing, so it was an improvement.

The next day we went home. We had needed to get gas the day before, but because of the power outage, only select gas stations were open, and all of those had outrages lines... so we hadn't gotten any. So, right before we got on the interstate, I asked Mark if we should get gas... he said we should be good to make it home... but that it would be really funny if we ran out on our way home. Yes... funny indeed.

So what do you think happened on our way home? We ran out of gas. Fortunately we were close to an offramp... so we coasted off, and then to a more remote street which was slightly uphill. Mark hopped out and started pushing. He did pretty well until we tried to turn into a parking lot.

Just then... a good samaritan appeared, and helped push us to safety! Hooray! and, luck of luck, this good man had just filled up a gas can for his generator (seeing as how his power was still out)... so he generously gave us the gas, and since he had just purchased it, was able to direct us to the nearest gas station with power.

We tried to pay him, but he woudn't accept it. He told us to just pass it on... :) Has he seen "Pay it Forward" ? Perhaps. Whew. It was an adventurous couple days. And yes... when we returned, we had power.

What it comes to is this, thank you Mary for the candles! Without them we would have been... even more ill prepared... if you can believe it!