O.T. Storm just missed us

Thursday afternoon a storm passed within blocks of our house. We lost
power at 3:30 Thursday afternoon. It returned at 3 a.m. Friday
morning. The neighbors across the street are still without power.
Thankfully we have never switched from DSL to cable internet service
because the cable is out.

The official report is that a tornado passed over us but did not touch
ground. The tops of the tallest old trees were twisted and removed.
The only houses damaged were those hit by trees. Many of these trees
are at least 100 years old so it is sad to see them damaged. Many will
have to be taken completely down.

At one point they said 500,000 customers in Chicago were without
power. Now there is less than 100,000 without power but this includes
many businesses. Restaurants must throw away even the food in their
freezers and have an inspection by the health department because the
power has been off so long. The line at the post office was out the
door because the two nearest post offices were closed.

I went to ACE Hardware this afternoon to purchase more plastic storage
containers for my fabric. The store was open even though they did not
have power. Each shopper had to be personally escorted into the store
by an employee with a flashlight. Once you chose your item the
employee wrote down the information off the shelf tag. The "register"
was a hand held calculator. They were only taking charge cards, no
cash. Business was brisk. Most people were buying things to repair the
storm damage.

The quilt store where I teach was in the direct line of the storm.
Those at the store during the storm said it was very frightening.
There was no damage to the store but their power did not come on until
this morning. I spent this afternoon at the store helping to finish
the kits that were scheduled to be made Thursday evening and Friday.

Thursday evening I stitched on a redwork project by candlelight. We
made sure everything was off the floor of my studio just in case water
came in but all is dry. We are very thankful that all is well here at
our house.

Susan