Tonight's challenge is to type in the dark. I think i cna, I rhink I dan. The minute I woke up Friday morning, I gathered laundry and started washing, hoping to get two loads done before we lost our power. I succeeded, but I was not so lucky with the honey whole wheat bread. It was on its second rising, all set to go into the oven, when at 9:50 am, we lost it. I couldn't believe it because the cold front hadn't come through yet and it hadn't been all that windy up to that point. What was the meaning of this! I expect to lose power when the wind gusts to 70 mph, but not when it's 30 to 40. In any case, the wild morning began soon after my oven died, with hailstones the size of hard candies and winds that made the roof groan so loudly, I was afraid it would be ripped off.

Ken immediately went out to start the generator and we hoped for the best, it being our first time running it. After about a half hour, the heat was back on and we were in business. The only problem was we had no running water. The generator is supposed to provide energy for the pump, but it wasn't. It turned out two ciruits had been blown out, not on Friday, but most likely the last time the previous owners had run the generator. In any event, after much study and contemplation, Ken solved the problem today, and we now can flush toilets and, very occasionally, splurge on a hot shower. I got first dibs on that since I have to face the public tomorrow, and I couldn't face it with dirty, stringy hair. All of Johnsburg is without power, on this the second day without. I think it's likely that we won't have it restored for another couple of days because there's a huge tree that's fallen on top of the wires in the woods. That's a weird thing to me, running electricity on poles through the woods. I'm stumped as to why they don't run poles along the road, though I'm sure there must be a good reason. (?)

On top of that, I was sick yesterday. Today I'm just enjoying reading on the couch, though I did have to do food shopping this morning. We now have a grocery to replace Tops. It's Grand Union Family Market. They were supposed to be fully open on Wednesday, and to their credit, I suppose, they managed to get their sign erected and were successful in outfitting the employees in Grand Union uniforms. Only problem is the GU powers that be did not manage to get any food to the store. I was appalled by how little there was. Thank goodness the proprietors of The Secret Ingredient across the street were decently stocked with organic produce and dairy foods, or Ken and I would be eating Tostitos, sardines, and butter tonight.

It's supposed to go down to 10 below tonight, which means the generator will have to be bottle-fed gasoline at least once every two hours, I imagine. So far Ken has insisted on doing it. I feel guilty, though. At least he doesn't have to go to work tomorrow. This will be my busiest stretch ever at the mountain--the Presidents' Week Holiday. I've been trying to rest all day today to be ready for it.

Thursday was exploration day. Annie and her Lab, and Sophie and I hiked all over the trails around the lower elevations of Crane Mountain. It was so warm that I ended up whipping off my fleece jacket to climb in just a turtleneck and jeans. I was so hot. We were talking so much that we missed the point where we were supposed to ascend the steeper portions, so we ended up exploring the Putnam Farm area and surrounding trails. By the time we retraced our steps and found the trail we should have taken, we'd already been hiking four hours and were too tired to do anything but pack the dogs in Annie's Jeep and head home. I love Annie's adventuresome spirit--she's always up for any challenge. Crane Mountain is so beautiful. At one point, we stood in an open field where the mountain opened up before us and we both stood in awe, for once speechless.