Island Life, or, alternatively, Clean Out Your Freezer In Three Easy Day's.

No sooner, it seems, had I posted "stay tuned for the next family drama", when the next drama was upon us and we huddled together fearing as the rain and wind tore and lashed at our house. This is where Ryland walks by, rolls his eyes, "Mother, you are exaggerating greatly." So, o.k, maybe a little, strictly for your entertainment and I suppose my ratings. I assure you, however, that we did not sleep hardly a wink Sunday night due to the terrific wind and noise. On Monday we stared in awed horror out the lee-side windows. Our camp trailer, familiarly know as the "Rabbit Hutch, aka Snow Cone" had already been flipped on it's side, but some of us got to see the chicken coop destruction (no chickens were maimed or killed) a site that Brian says will be seared onto his brain forever. Brian ground his coffee using the plug in in his car, and heated water on the fire. We tried to identify what was blowing by, and then from where, "Oh, No, Mr. Pollards barn parts!". At 10:00 we realized that we were also going to see our worst flood ever. Our lower neighbors had already evacuated, and we watched the water come roaring in until we were an island - though our house was safe from flooding. It was very warm out and we did a little wading (up to my thighs). This entertainment was cut short by early darkness. Now, darkness falls way too early in the Pacific Northwest anyway, but stormy days have us seeing pitch black by 4p.m., and consequently our lighting shortage was discovered. One measly wind up lamp casting anemic beams for all of six inches. The candles were nice, but kept going out and were certainly not safe for the children to use. This oversight meant that we were stuck in the dark. Now, on Monday night we were feeling pretty good. We were all still alive, warm, and fed, and so sipping hot cocoa we played "aren't we lucky to have... fire, warmth, each other." This is where we regressed. Most of you probably have realized that our children inherited their busyness from their father. Usually, this busyness if carefully channels is productive and useful. He happily does anything from dishes to car repair. So a only a few "active" hours a day were trying. Brian did manage to start cleaning up on Tuesday and burned off some excess energy. On Tuesday night we ate "Thank Heavens We Can't See it Soup" (recipe as follows).

THANK HEAVENS WE CAN'T SEE IT SOUP

Ingredients:

2 containers lukewarm leftovers

4 scrambled eggs

chicken/beef/veggie broth

veggie

To Prepare:

Jerk open refrigerator (conserving any remaining cold) and hastily grab 2 containers leftover, eggs, and a veggie grab.

Scramble eggs, reserve.

Dump remaining ings. into pot, heat to a rolling boil. It is essential to boil for a minimum of two minutes to kill pathogens. Slowly add egg. Eat in dark. Play guess that ingredient (optional).

On this night we played the "ABC-Z" what would I want if I were stranded on an island...

and the next game was if you were going to loot, what store and what would it be (some stores in Raymond were reportedly looted). No, we would never actually loot.

Thankfully, on Wednesday, we got power and hot showers before we moved on to "barter economics" (we fear we have woefully little to offer). Brian will probably suffer permanent psychological effect and start hording coffee (he almost ran out). The town is still a mess, and I don't think every one has power.. you can't buy gas and the schools aren't open.

See all the destruction pictures and LIVE FOOTAGE at: http://www.pickle.com/dickeybirds/113

'Til next post, and thankful for hot water.

ei