Tuesday, January 23, 2007
"Surviving The Ice Of 2007"
Reflections of a magnificent misfortune by Jason Heath-Fitzgerald:
Howdy folks!
I know that lots of ya'll are wonderin where the hell Matthew & I have been... and to tell ya the truth, it's a long story that's hard to believe...
Lots of Oklahoma and surrounding areas have been hit hard with winter weather and here in the Krebs/McAlester area we were hit with the worst ice storm I've ever had the honor of experiencing.
It's been an amazing trip...
This whole Ice Storm has been unbelievable. We were without electric for 8 days and only a small stove for heat. We had 9 folks taking shelter in our house for over a week, and some of them are still here until they can get back to their homes. Life in general here is going to take time to get back to normal.
It makes you realize how lucky you are in everyday life after experiencing something like that. Not having electric, questionable water supply, no heat, standing in line for hours waiting to buy food and gas and watching your home be beaten by ice and trees... you realize how you take things for granted.
We were lucky- our property is a wreck and we lost our front car port when a pine tree went, but we didn't get any holes in our roof- that was one of my biggest fears.
Through it all there were many reasons to be upset... loss of money, loss of property, tons of damage that will have to be fixed, not to mention just the hardships caused by no power, etc, BUT I have to say, I had some great experiences during it all.
Matthew and I have a very close group of friends down here in southeast Oklahoma and when this storm hit, they came to us for shelter, which we were more than glad to give them. During the week we all spent together in close-quarters, I discovered that I cherish and love each and every one of them even more than I had previously thought.
The time we spent together was a bonding and learning experience for us all. We stood together and faced each problem that showed it's ugly face. Our evenings were spent cooking and eating meals together, then mixing our favorite cocktails and entertaining ourselves without television, computers or any other electronic devices that we've learned to use to pass the time. We spent hours playing Farkle, charades, pool (that goodness we have a pool room) and many other games. We also did something else; we talked. We talked and talked and talked some more. It was truly a beautiful thing and I for one will NEVER forget it.
Sitting here reliving it all in my head, I realize I have so many fond memories from the past 2 weeks... the moment the pine hit the car port- wow, what a sound! I remember Josh, Paul, Matthew and I running out front to check what the hell was going on when another pine branch decided to go- scaring the shit out of us... the morning that Sherri and I decided we needed to drive into McAlester to check on Glenn and his mother, then my folks- only to find that the street leading to Glenn's home was impassable and we had to abandon the jeep and hike the rest of the way finding them safe & trying to stay warm next to the fireplace... the afternoon that we realized that we didn't have enough groceries to feed everyone in the house, so Paul, Sherri & I went to Countrymart in McAlester where we stood in line for hours in the ice-cold rain so we could go inside and shop by flashlight... the night we needed gas to run the RV generator (which we later found wasn't going to work out)- since there was a line 2 miles long at the only gas station open in McAlester, I decided we should siphon gas from the tank of my '67 Cadillac. Matthew stepped up to the challenge & what a challenge it turned out to be- long story, but I'm sure everyone that was here remembers... Sherri's Birthday celebration- what a time to have a birthday! Josh and Kelly made sure that Sherri had a birthday party regardless of the circumstances! And I'm sure it's not a birthday that she'll forget soon... there are many stories from the storm, someday maybe I'll get 'em all typed out.
So, to all of my family that spent the disaster with us here in our home: Thank you and I love you all. We did it together and we made hell a bearable place to be!
Check out a few photos we took at this link:
http://jasonwebdesigns.com/icestorm2007/icestorm2007.html
