Tuesday night was incredible. We didn't notice a thing until the power went out around 10:40pm. Then we realized it sounded and looked like we were under attack outside. Every few minutes, sometimes even seconds, we heard loud crashing sounds. There would be a crackling, then a shattering sound like dozens of plates smashing. Or there would be a crackling and a loud thump. With the ice-covered ground, every sound in the nearest mile echoed and sounded like it was in the backyard, whether it was a clump of ice or a giant limb. Also, the sky was flashing greens and blues all over. All of this lasted the entire night. Our power came back on around 11:45pm so we tried to get some sleep, but every crash brought me back to the kitchen to see if it was in our yard. We had already lost several large limbs from each big tree in the backyard and some from the front. I think the electricity went off a few more times during the night, including one outage that lasted from around 3:30 to 7 or so. But the important thing is that we had power...and a huge mess in the backyard.
Wednesday: We didn't have cable, though so no tv or internet. That nearly drove Jason crazy as he stayed home from work. The kids sledded down the hill in the backyard and Jason and I cleared the driveway behind the van. The rest of the day we played Lego Batman. We also had another large limb fall.(Abby and Luke were off of school all week.)
Jason went to work Thursday. Still no cable.
Friday I went to school and Jason went to work and the kids went to Jenny's. The roads were fine, or at least, good enough. When we got home we found another giant limb had fallen on our fence. Amazingly it wedged itself into the gaps between fill boards and only one was broken and one was bent(!). Friday night around 9pm or so, Jason called to me from the kitchen. I knew something was wrong because he used my name. When I got there we saw that there was a limb on the power line that was sparking. It caught on fire and quickly went out. Embers kept falling and then it caught on fire again and quickly went out. Then the fire came back bigger and went out so we called Vectren. While Jason was on the phone, the fire came back really big so we called the fire department. I ran to get shoes and a fire extinguisher in case it fell on the fence. As I reached the stairs I saw a big blue flash and a heard a small boom as the lights went out. They came back on and then the flash and boom and lights out again. This time they stayed out. With the power out the fire went out. Two guys from the fire department stopped by and left since there wasn't anything to do. We survived a chilly night without power and went to the Donut Bank for some breakfast and wifi. The Bacon's kindly opened their home to us so that is where I sit now trying to recap all of this. When I get home, if we have cable, I will post some pictures to enhance the story.
Abby chilling with Ben and Jerry.
