Hurricane Irene took a toll on Connecticut on Sunday. Power has been down since late Saturday. We just got our electricity back a couple hours ago. Many people are still down, and expect to be without electricity for up to 10 days.
If I ever complain again about technology, you have my permission to slap me across the face, maybe just throw some cold water in my face.  I had such tech withdrawal this week.  
And I missed WA. In light of everything, I'm grateful to be alive and that my family is fine. We were spared a category 4 hurricane, but it was ferocious anyway.

The hurricane lost a lot of power before it hit us, but  it still managed to completely destroy many beachfront homes and severely damage others. People lost their lives, having been hit by falling trees, or walls and roofs caving in. One guy decided to wind surf in the hurricane. I don't need to tell you the result of that lunacy. Some woman went kayaking. I don't know, maybe I'm not that adventurous.

My house withstood the storm. No trees fell. I lost 2 freezers and 2 refrigerators worth of food. Burned tons of candles. Took cold showers. Purchased ice at scalper rates. Went to bed early out of boredom. Couldn't read, write, go online, or watch TV. Yard looked like the morning after a birthday party for the incubus. What a mess!

There was massive flooding. Hard to believe that the winds and rain were strong enough to do all this damage, but it happened. My dentist lost his beach house. People were in the shelters that were provided, but only if they didn't have friends or family to stay with. There was some looting.

I managed to write lots of articles. Also, Internet deprivation was healthy. Did some good thinking during the storm.

Happy to be back with all of you. Grateful for my blessings. Not happy that others were harmed by the storm, however. Thinking about getting a generator.