My daughter's 13th birthday celebration at home with her friends was Saturday, October 29. This was also the day of record autumn snowfall in Connecticut. Though my weather guru at the gas station near work in Waterbury told me it was coming, I shrugged and laughed and said, "See you Monday." Perhaps the laughter was the big mistake. This guy is always right about the weather and I had no doubt about the snow and the slipperiness it would bring this time of year. But I should not have laughed. Look what happened:




From November 2, 2011


This old Casper looked as solemn as a prophet of doom after a few hours. He gave me a sad glance as I stepped out to get the beautiful pizzas that Elenni's delivered promptly at 6 p.m. despite our circumstances at the top of a steep hill where we were sitting in the dark.




From November 2, 2011

Little did we know as my daughter and her ten best friends danced and laughed and talked (This word is inadequate to describe the amount of talking 11 girls can do in the dark for hours on end, but it will have to do as I thaw out this morning.) that we would spend the next five days living like Stone Age barbarians huddled around the fire.




From November 2, 2011

From November 2, 2011


Life's a dance--until the electric company leaves you stranded because it didn't pay the out-of-staters who helped out at the previous disaster (We remember her as Irene.), and folks don't come. Then life is a slow crawl to the nearest fire as you wait and wonder about the health and well-being of your child and your home. We ended up spending most of our time at my parents' home in Newtown, where they have a generator and we managed to shower and eat hot food and stay warm.  The dance went on.

Happy Birthday, Adella, and thank you, mom and dad!