Griffin and the Great Snow

On Thursday Oct 12, it began snowing. Eric came home early, and he played outside with Griffin. Griffin loved the snow. We soon realized that he needs a snowsuit and gloves, however. He was incredibly unhappy coming inside, but after we dried him off and put him in his feetie pajamas, he was a happy lad. We even let him taste our cocoa. The snow got worse and worse, but it still was snuggly and warm. Our phone went out. I plugged in my cellphone to recharge, on a hunch.

Then at dinner time, the lights went out. Griffin was very unhappy. He didn't like the candles (though he tried very hard to touch them), and whenever one of us left the room he screamed and cried. We were in good spirits, and though the electricity did not come back, we thought it would. We called my sister in law, who offered their home, but we were certain everything would come back. It didn't. The next day, their electricity was out, too. We called a friend who lived in Wheatfield, and he offered us succor.

The next few days were bad for poor Griffin, who really didn't understand why we left our home. He slept in his 'pack and play' in the laundry room next to the basement "rec" room that we were occupying. He is an adventurous and curious lad, so the fact that he couldn't touch many things irked him, and he kept trying our patience on purpose. Finally, though, our electricity came back on, and we went home. He is now a little off, but I think when we get our cable back and he can see "Sesame Street" again, he will be completely whole once more. While we were at our friend's house, anything that reminded him of his house he obsessed over. I think the highlight was when he was dead asleep in the other section of the basement on a blanket, and we were gathered around a computer, watching a music video that we also watch a lot when we're home. Griffin woke up from his sleep and staggered into our part of the room, falling on the floor like a wee zombie, looking for the video like it would magically bring him home again.

This just puts me in the mood for Christmas. Griffin in his little red feeties, sitting and looking at cartoons while snow falls in the background. I can't wait until we have the lights up, and the tree (though that will also be a pain in the butt, as he will try to grab all the ornaments). I can't wait to show him the old claymation Christmas specials, and the animated Grinch. Cookie smells, hot cocoa smells, and everything safe and snuggly. Until everything turned into a wee bit of a horror show, the afternoon with him and the snow was actually incredibly exciting.

I am downplaying a lot of the fear and unhappyness that went with this weekend. I was scared that he would get sick, or that we would have to stay in the apartment as it slowly got colder and colder. I was scared we would starve (though Griffin wouldn't, even if I had to hunt the wild turkeys in the back, dammit!), because our stove is electric. Driving in the snow and slippery slush was frightening, because there were no stop lights and people were acting like idiots. The only reason I was okay with it was because Eric is an incredible bad weather driver. The mounting feeling of doom was also stressful. We slowly began to hear more and more in drips and drabs. National Grid saying that it would take 1-5 days to return to normal.. Then upping it's estimate to another week. Friends of ours trapped on the 90, people dying as tree limbs fell on them, water running out, then having to boil it. It is far from Katrina, but it was scary.

We are home, we are safe. Griffin is beautiful, and we get paid tomorrow. Take care of each other.
Be well,
Autumn