April's newsletter is different
Coming to you from an icy wasteland
This is no newsletter as usual. As I write this.. we are on day 2 of no power after a destructive ice storm moved through our area. So, I write this little missive.. using a a little precious power. And will send when we turn on the internet for a brief moment of connection to the outside world.
Our world is currently encased in ice. Every tree, every faded plant from last season is coated in an inch of solid ice. It looks like the whole word was turned upside down, dipped in molten glass and righted again. But as the glass cooled, the weight was too much for them to bear. It has been very destructive to the trees. The day of the storm we only dared short walks for fear of falling branches and tree tops. Many trees have lost their ‘heads’. Many of the decades old sentinels to our home, the pines, have snapped about 10 feet from the top. Many maples, aspens and birches have broken. If not completely - then losing major limbs. That afternoon, as ice and sleet kept falling it was scary just how much groaning and breaking you could hear in the woods. Pops, snapping, twisting. There will be a lot of chainsaw work to do. The trees that did not break are bent in half. Their tips touching ground. All I can ask of them is to keep holding on. To wait for the sun and the warmth to slowly melt away their glassy prisons.
And yet, this glassy coating is eerily beautiful. Glistening in the sun, casting rainbows and glitter. They are chattering and clinking like a forest full of crystal goblets, toasting each other. I have no idea to what they could be honoring. Although maybe it is a woodland full of compliments and remembrances to the trees that have broken. I have caught myself mesmerized today as I cleaned up whatever shrapnel I can lift and move. Dazzled by the sunlight and the sound of ice hitting ice high up in the trees. Maybe I’m just trying desperately to find a silver lining and, quite frankly, this ice certainly looks silvery. How something so destructive can be so gloriously stunning is fascinating.
The power will likely remain out for some time. There are many trees that need clean up and power poles have also broken. We are in for a few days of rustic living. A very stark reminder just how much we have come to rely on the modern conveniences of running water, electricity and the internet. And also, how perilously close we are to having to be without it. One storm and over 75K people are living a whole new world. Resourcefulness runs our days now. Snow is now melted for dishes, boiled for water for the pets and chickens and to give ourselves a good old fashioned ‘whore’s bath’. Luckily there is plenty of snow around for just this purpose. We invested in a couple different kinds of generators (gas and solar) which have proven to be very efficient. We have a gas stove.. so all we need is a match to ignite the burners. The only sticking point is toilet and water. No electricity means no water pump and that has been our only ‘worry’ .. if we have one. But, we have drinking water, the snow and the outhouse. Which is in the meadow.. so note to selves, this summer another compost toilet will be constructed nearer the house for emergencies just like this. We are sheltered, warm and fed. And truly that’s the main things, right?
Interestingly, when the power goes out, you realize just how quiet your house is without it. The constant hum of the refrigerator, the TV, and the simple background noise of just the electricity in the walls goes away. It is very very quiet.
Of course all this craziness comes with the realization that we cannot ‘work’ as usual. Spider Web video uploads are a no-go for now. And kits can’t be mailed if I can’t print labels, etc. So, please bear with me as we deal with this mess. Brian works from home and any access to the internet or powering up computers, etc will default to him for now. He’s already adjusted as much as possible. I’ve had to reschedule appointments for this week and hope that the power company can catch up sooner rather than later.
As usual, I’m always trying to figure out the ‘messaging’ of something like this. What is being indicated here? To me? To all of us? What can I glean of Mother Nature’s language? Well, a few things come to mind. First I think about the ice. Which is simply frozen water, right? Water in most energetic circles is emotions, life blood, the ‘juiciness’ of life. Frozen emotion is, I believe, much of the issues we are seeing now. Disconnect from the realness of life. The messy. The feeling of it. So, this ice has come and coated all the alive things. Freezing them in time. Breaking those who could not bend. And bending those who can right to the ground. The tips of trees that usually sway in the sky… bowing and putting their foreheads on the earth. And what of this ceremonial bending and/or breaking? This icy coating has not taken whole trees from the root, like other storms we have seen. But instead breaking their tops. Their ‘head in the clouds’, crown chakra, sky loving parts have been asked to bend to earth or break. Drawing the energy back down to our earthiness. Which is completely reflected in loss of electricity and the need to get really into the needs vs. wants of this current situation. And this is most likely just my rambling mind as I pick up broken branches, decide how best to use my boiled snow water and figure out the real world bathroom/shower needs of modern people (for now) living in pre-plumbing times. LOL! Take what feels real and discard the rest.
So, signing off from pioneer times.. just kidding, it’s still not as demanding as all that. And I am keenly aware that many people, not just in this county but around the world live each day with many more struggles and horrors. This experience of living without water and power (and again, very aware this is just for now) reminds me how much we rely on it. And that we can still survive without it. But despite this, enjoy these few pics from the glass sculpture we are currently living in. It is seriously stunning.. but we have more snow on the way Tuesday and Wednesday. So let’s hope this new snowstorm doesn’t do as much damage! Stay safe out there and enjoy your electricity!
