We are now in day three without power at our house.

Irene moved into our area late Saturday night, and we lost power sometime around 3:00 AM on Sunday morning; the storm’s rains moved out on Sunday morning, but the high winds persisted until late into Sunday evening, resulting in many downed trees and power lines around our part of the neighborhood.  Fortunately for us, no trees fell on or near our house nor our cars, and no significant water in the basement.  We played some board games with the kids – Sorry and Parcheesi – in the afternoon, and lit some candles and turned on the flashlights when it got dark, and when it got too late we all headed to bed! 

Monday, the sun rose on a gorgeous Summer morning, with temperatures in the 70s and low humidity – truly a beautiful day, but still no power.  I had time to clean up the yard of fallen sticks, cut the lawn for the first time in three weeks, re-setup the patio furniture, bird feeders, hanging plants, etc.  Edith filled up a cooler with frozen and refrigerated foods and took them to her parents’ house for storage, and was able to find some ice at a local supermarket to fill a cooler at home.  Her parents hosted us for dinner last night, and today I am working from their dining room table while Will works on two book reports due for school next week.  Edith’s work is closed due to flooding damage in that area, so she and Katie are doing girl things together.  PSE&G is still working on restoring power, but we’re still waiting…