THANK YOU, NON-LOCAL WORKERS!

Wow, trees that are still standing!

It has been five days since the remnants of Hurricane Philippe swooped across New England, causing widespread power outages, major traffic accidents, chemical fire, and fallen trees.

For the first few days I stick to the main route from home to work, only to discover power out and wires down still days later.  I even follow a line of traffic through a "road closed" sign on the highway through town because the cones have been moved, and the line in front of my car is proceeding past the electric trucks parked in the northbound lane.

Three days post-storm, I come home along the edge of the state forest and discover that, although the road is mostly cleared of downed trees, there is still no power, including no working traffic lights at a dangerous and busy intersection by the state police barracks.  One would think the staties would be at the top of the "must have power" list, but apparently not.  These lights stay out for two more days.

Finally, today, five days post-storm,there seems to be power, the roads are passable, and life is grand again.  This prompts me to tempt fate and go home the back roads by a nearby cemetery and the local pond.  After all, these roads have not been tweeted out by the town as impassable.

The town is incorrect.

Five days later, this one pocket of town is littered with trees, the roads are single lane only due to debris, and I am attempting to drive through not one, not two, but ten utility trucks trying to restore power by rewiring the entire neighborhood and beyond.  It is a beautiful 72 degree day outside, so my car windows are open.  As I wait for several trucks to pass between my pulled over vehicle on the right and their pulled over compadres on the left, I shout to one of the trucks that has an unfamiliar insignia.

"Thanks for all you do to get us back up and running," I say.  "We appreciate you!"

Uh-oh. Now, a bus! This road is tight even without debris.

The gentleman in the yellow emergency vest answers me in a wonderful Southern drawl.  He and his coworkers seem tired but still cheerful.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking how we Northerners are usually the ones sending help south when those horrible ice storms grip the Atlantic seaboard and beyond.  How wonderful to see these trucks from down south and to see these workers from down south coming up to help us out.

We will attempt to keep the good weather for all-y'all, too.  No rain since Saturday, mid-seventies today, and mid to high seventies predicted for Friday.  We hardy New Englanders are having a hard time wrapping our heads around being incapacitated by something as inconsequential as post-hurricane winds and rain, and we are also pretty ungracious and rather self-deprecating about accepting help from the outside world, but thank you all for being here.

Hopefully, by Friday the town will be fully restored to power.  If not, just know that many, many people are working hard to get it done.