Tuesday, August 31, 2021

August 31, 2021 - I'm baaaack ...

Did ya miss me?! No power for about 48 hours, due to the freak lightning/microburst issue with the local power poles. More than half the county, including Kingman, lost power because of it. Most got it back that night. Dolan Springs & Meadview are up now!

There was a minor storm on Sunday. Lots of lightning, some rain, and of course, wind. We always have wind around here ... Well, apparently, more than 20 power poles were snapped in half down near the entry to Pierce Ferry Road (highway 25), which is our 'main street'. It happened between the hardware store and Rednecks Feed & More (which is where we set up our flea market on the weekends.) The pictures are not mine. I did not go out to see what happened. It is 3 miles from me.

No one is quite sure whether it was lightning that hit one and made them all topple or a microburst wind. There was a small fire, whether from lightning or from a transformer blowing when the weight of the wires and poles pulled it all down, no one knows for sure. Luckily, it missed Jeff's red trailer with the flags around it (he's one of the vendors that sets up for the flea market.) The first pic is our 'watch for cattle' warning sign, toppled.





I took these pics this morning. A rainbow peeking through the clouds.



The battery on my phone died yesterday morning. I have a battery back-up and charger, but of course, they decided to fail, too. I tried charging them in the car and in the RV. No go. Wasted gas running them to try charging ...

I ran out of water this morning. I had been very careful using the 30 gallons in the water pump 'bladder', since with no electricity, the pump couldn't work to pull water up from my underground tank. Luckily, the school had water! I was able to fill up a bunch of little containers to get the chickens water.

I was so happy when the power clicked on at around 3 pm. Ran out and topped off all the chickens' waterers, then took a shower!!

I think I'm really lucky that it looks like all of my food in the fridge and freezer survived. I was careful not to open them too often. My ice cream is melty, though ...

Now, at 8pm it's been pouring rain/thunder/lightning for over an hour. We really need the rain. But, now there are flash flood warnings. There was a small fire on Mt. Mitten, north of me. It was started Sunday by lightning. Rain seemed to put it out, but it smoldered yesterday and came back today. Hopefully, this heavy rain has put it out.

I read an entire book, finished a puzzle and started another while the power was out. And, I sat outside last night. It was so peaceful and dark. It is amazing how much light pollution this tiny town produces. You don't really notice it, but when the lights are all out, it's just ... wow. 

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