"Gilligan's Island" Revisited

photo from my LG phone

Those of you who are old enough to remember the TV series with Bob Denver and Alan Hale will also remember the melody of the show's theme song.  Substitute these words: "No phone, TV nor Internet -- not a single luxury. Like Robinson Crusoe, it's primitive as can be."

That's how I've felt for the last six days -- marooned on an island created by over 12" of snow that fell on Christmas night following an afternoon of freezing rain. The most snow EVER in the Little Rock area on Christmas Day since weather records have been kept.  Brr! Humbug!  It was beautiful, but enough is enough!

As a result of the ice coating/snowfall, several large trees in the next block from me fell ---- across the power and cable lines that service my neighborhood.  I was without electrical power only for about 36 hours but, since I have chosen to have my communication services "bundled,"  I lost Internet, television and telephone service from Christmas night, Tuesday, until after supper time today, Monday. Stalwart crews have worked steadily, in much less than optimal conditions, on cutting and hauling away trees, then replacing and restoring yards and yards of fallen lines.  Utility repairmen are unsung heroes, IMHO.

On Wednesday morning, I left my kitties in their fur coats and fled to Gardening Daughter's home until the electricity was restored here. Gas furnaces are wonderful, but they require electricity to work properly. I don't mind being in the dark, but I do require a certain amount of warmth, of which there is not a lot in an old home surrounded by a foot of snow.

For some reason, Gardening Daughter's section of town, about a mile from me, is seldom bothered by power outages, plus she has a wood-burning stove which puts out a very cheerful warmth.  I enjoyed my stay but was happy to hear on Thursday afternoon that power was back on here, and returned home straight away.  I've entertained myself with reading and watching DVDs in lieu of TV, but confess that I've had a few NCIS rerun withdrawal symptoms. Can I say "addiction?"

It's rained steadily most of this last day of 2012, but deep patches of snow still remain in my yard and elsewhere. The temps have hovered in the upper 30 degree range all day; I'm hoping that it won't freeze tonight.  We don't need any more of this right now.  

Tomorrow is also a day... and it's New Year's Day.  A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!