So the second perfect storm has come and gone. The power company, in its infinite wisdom has called in the cowboys from other states, to help with fallen trees and dangerous branches. I was walking up my street to assess the damage done when my next door neighbor joined me and rambled on about renting her house instead of selling it. All I wanted was silence and sunshine. I tried to be polite but then I decided to show her the wreckage in our front yard and the driveway of death, where the downed wire lay across two cars. She continued to tell me about the new neighbors who have a dog, two teenage sons and drive expensive cars. Plus they are all good-looking, like in Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon welcome. I hear this but could care less.
I'm thinking the dog will be a barker, half Poodle/half Pomeranian. My four cats will put him in his place. Hopefully, they'll kill him. She insists upon showing me the minimal damage their property sustained. I mumble comforting words since it's Sunday and I do try to be nice most of the time. We spot two serious trucks at the end of the road, and I take this as a cue to get help. They are from Ohio, tree cutters, come to the rescue. I run; tell the driver my situation and he drives down the road, following me. He's smoking a cigarette and says he'll take care of it right now. I'm temporarily in love with a total stranger. In less than fifteen minutes, he cuts and removes all the offending branches. I thank him profusely and he tells me the linemen will be "around" in the next four or five days. As an aside, he tells me, "You do know not to touch the car with the wire on it and the fence, right?"
Okay. Then as I'm worrying again and he drives off, two electricity-fixing-trucks come barreling down the road. Instant elation. The first truck drives straight toward the downed wire. The second truck starts beeping his horn frantically, as that driver notices the first truck has caught the wire on its rooftop. Both trucks stop abruptly. Out jumps young, bandanna on his head, laughing guy who reaches up, lifts the wire so his truck can drive underneath it, continues to hold it for second truck, then hops back in and they're gone. I'm speechless. Coming in the house, I call my daughter; they have some power, but no water. She has been boiling snow in pots to flush the toilets. So I guess it could be worse; I should count my blessings and someday we both decided it will be funny, just not today. The best quote from the day was when she said, "I never knew how much snow it took to flush a toilet."