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| One of many large tree limbs that fell at my apartment complex during the Nor'easter on Wednesday |
Yesterday the second Nor'easter in six days slammed into the east coast like it was trying to make a point.
While incredibly high winds defined the Nor'easter that left at least seven people dead last Friday, yesterday's storm dropped some really heavy snowfall in a short time.
For those of you who don't live on the eastern coast of the U.S., when I say heavy, I don't just mean intense snowfall (which it was), it was a dose of that physically-heavy, really wet snow that's really hard to shovel - it also takes its toll on trees, power lines and the human body.
I'm no Gordon Parks, but take a look at the photo above I took this morning as I drove around the apartment complex in Hamilton, New Jersey where I work and live - that's a 70-foot section of a huge tree that just toppled from the weight of all that wet snow yesterday.
The grounds crew had to use the backhoe to push it up next to the snow bank to clear the driveway until we can get the tree surgeons we use out to cut it up and haul it away.
A bunch of large limbs and branches like that one fell all over the property yesterday, at least two cars got crushed - fortunately they were parked and no one was inside them at the time.
Early Wednesday morning it was about 47 degrees out and it was basically just light cold rain / snow that wasn't really sticking - and I thought maybe the Nor'easter warnings had been a bit hyped.
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| Anthony Gonzalez perished when he drove over a live power line in Franklin Lake, NJ on Wednesday |
It was actually kind of eerie sitting in my office because I could hear thunder rumbling (yes, thunder while it was snowing) and after a couple hours I started hearing these big cracks as limbs started falling from the weight of all the snow.
The storm proved deadly to a driver about 90 minutes north of here in Franklin Lakes, NJ just northwest of Paterson.
According to an NJ.com article, the driver, identified as 40-year-old Anthony Gonzalez, supposedly tried to drive around a barrier that had been erected around a downed, live power line which electrocuted the vehicle, which then became engulfed in flames - he was found inside when firemen arrived at the scene just before 9am this morning.
An article in The Bergen Record posted on North Jersey.com reports that Gonzalez was on the way over to his 61-year-old father's house to help shovel snow when his vehicle struck the wire.
Which is about as heartbreaking as it gets.
Like state offices and schools, all our regional New Jersey offices were closed, but I can walk to my office in about a minute, so I went in just to get some busy work out of the way and answer emails while I listened to NPR, but I left when the snow had reached about six or seven inches - and it was nasty out.
I don't think I was in my apartment more than about 20 minutes or so, it was like 4:20pm, and I'd started working on the blog I'd planned to post yesterday when I walked into the kitchen to take some stuff out for dinner when my radio suddenly went dead.
I got this bad feeling just as I looked at the stove and saw the digital clock blink off - and I heard this long beeeep! from my stove.
When the power goes out, my stove gives off this distinctive beep, and my heart really sank when I heard that.
It was late afternoon, getting darker, snow is pouring down outside, the roads are basically impassable at this point and my apartment was suddenly really quiet - and the realization that I had no power was really sobering.
All my plans went right out the window, I was going to wrap up the blog, edit and then and post it, then kick back and watch Netflix - but the power took out my WiFi so I couldn't use my laptop.
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| Writer Stephen King at work |
But the thing is I can't really use it to write a blog.
I mean I CAN, but it's really awkward editing text, adding links and cropping and placing photos - the only time I use my iPhone or Kindle to work on my blog is to maybe correct small typos I didn't catch, change the occasional word, or check my traffic statistics.
I do most of my writing on my MacBook Pro at my desk, I'm a pretty decent typist and it's just the way I like to work - I find it helps the discipline of writing to have a place where you write.
Anything you need to write should ideally be within arm's length, thesaurus, dictionary, journals, pens, pads of paper, cat toys etc. so you don't have to get up and break concentration.
Stephen King's excellent book for writers (a must-read whether you're aspiring, amateur or professional) appropriately titled "Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" emphasizes the importance of having an established "writing space" where you can go to work undisturbed.
Now this may sound strange, but I when I sat down to try and write while the full charge on my computer lasted yesterday, the silence was disturbing my concentration.
You know how lots of snow outside has the effect of making it even more quiet? Well it was so quiet in my 2nd floor apartment I just couldn't concentrate, plus I couldn't get online and I was stressed about having no power.
I always listen to music when I write, I like to have a radio I keep on top of my bookshelf about seven feet away on a somewhat low volume with as few commercials as possible - so it's usually classical on WQXR, classical or jazz on Philadelphia's WRTI, or sometimes progressive / independent rock or alternative on Philly's WXPN, depending on my mood and what I'm writing about.
The background noise keeps me company and helps me concentrate - I could've listened to music on my laptop or phone, but that eats up power and since my power was out, I had to save as much of the battery charge as I could for my devices because at the time I had no idea how long the power would be out.
You may have read in my previous blog about the Oscars, my friend Dave from Dunboyne, Ireland told me he'd been without power for three days - so I was genuinely worried yesterday.
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| For under $15 you should have an Atomic Beam and some AA batteries on hand...just in case |
Fortunately I had some roasted chicken in the fridge, so I sat down and ate that with a salad by the light of my Atomic Beam lantern I got for Christmas.
Now I don't really plug products on this blog, but I have to tell you, this thing worked amazingly.
Honestly, I'd never used it until last night when it was really dark and the candle and small flashlight I had weren't really cutting it.
It takes three AA batteries, which I happened to have, I unscrewed the bottom, put them in and let me tell you, as a former Boy Scout who has camped in all kinds of weather and light conditions using everything from Coleman lanterns, to flashlights to carbide miner's helmet lamps, the light this thing gave off was amazing.
It's only five inches high and three inches in diameter (pictured above), and the casing is made of a dense plastic, but it has two metal handles that fold upwards to become handles and it has no switch.
You simply pull the top open and it lights up - you can pull it a small way out or all the way depending on how much light you want.
The bottom, where you insert the three AA batteries, is magnetic, so you can stick it on a fridge or any metal surface and it will stick firmly, there's also a small hook that unfolds underneath so you can hang it from something.
I'm not ashamed to admit this thing picked up my spirits measurably - and it was practical too.
Like I said I usually don't push products on my blog ( and I certainly don't get paid for doing so), but having been in something of an emergency, this thing worked efficiently and I was glad I had it - I highly recommend picking one up to have at home - check out the Website.
You can get a two-pack of them on Amazon for about $15 bucks or so if you have Amazon Prime - I'm going to buy another to keep in my car - believe me, if it you find yourself in the dark unexpectedly, you'll be glad you have an Atomic Beam lantern (and some AA batteries).
It was kind of atmospheric reading accounts of the citizens of Stalingrad struggling to survive no power, little (if any) fuel for heat, very little food and almost constant arial and artillery bombardment from the German forces encircling the city during the brutal winter of 1941 - 1942.
But it took my mind off my own circumstances, which seemed like Club Med in comparison to what those poor people endured.
Those who managed to survive anyway, a staggering 3,466,066 Russian soldiers and civilians died during this horrific chapter of World War II.
I'd venture to say that it's impossible to understand the mindset of the Russian character without understanding the Siege of Stalingrad and what happened there - and why.
It's a gripping, but challenging read because the research is unmatched and it names names of those in the Russian military and government who were responsible for the massive bureaucratic failures that led to over a million German and Axis troops being able to invade Russia's western border in the summer of 1941 and eventually mercilessly lay siege to the city of Stalingrad for over two hellish years.
But it also identifies the countless heroes, soldiers and civilians alike, who sacrificed selflessly for the Motherland to try and save their beloved city - many of whom were later executed by Stalin after the war.
The book, published in 1969, was banned by Soviet authorities because of the harsh truths it reveals about the Soviet Union and Stalin's leadership in searing detail, I've been wrestling with this behemoth for months, in part because sometimes it's so intense I have to put it down every now and then and read something else.
Anyway, to wrap up, as I write this, in the blessed comforts of light, heat, WiFi and music, according to PSE&G there are still about 2,295 customers in Mercer County, NJ where I live without power - 42,934 PSE&G customers statewide have no power as of 10:45pm, and that's not even counting those served by JCPL.
That means hundreds of thousands of people are without power in their homes, condos or apartments right now and it's going down to 28 degrees - that's just in New Jersey.
So rather than politics, racism, unchecked use of force by police, America's damaged justice system or films, tonight my thoughts are with those of all races, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds sitting in the dark tonight waiting for their power to come back on.
Both here in America, in states like New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, or down in Puerto Rico, or across the Atlantic in parts of the U.K., Ireland and Scotland - and those in the city of Stalingrad from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944.
My power finally came back on at around 8:30am this morning, and I genuinely feel blessed for that - because I know and understand that others have waited a lot longer than 16 hours for the lights to come back on.
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