According to The Weather Channel, Bradley International Airport got 12.3" of snow on the Saturday of the storm. Is that a significant snowfall for the month of October in Connecticut? Put it this way: the previous record was only about an inch and a half.
We got a foot.
In my opinion, we got more like seven or eight inches. But trees all across the state, perhaps weakened by Tropical Storm Irene back in September, and certainly still full of their summer leaves, collapsed under the weight of the heavy, wet snow. Roads all across the state looked like a war zone. And the power went out everywhere.
Except our place.
All weekend, we never lost power. Cable went out Sunday, but no big deal. Seemed like a repeat of Irene. On Monday morning, I woke up, took a shower, put laundry in the washing machine, and went to work. I clearly had no idea we might lose power. But we did. Around 9:30am Monday, October 31. Halloween.
But no matter. Fairly seasonal temperatures had returned, we packed the baby and drove down to Eric and Melissa's for the Halloween party they had. It was a great family get-together, tempered only by the lingering thought our power might not be restored and the relative lack of trick-or-treaters.
We drove back and got home around 11:30 pm. The power was still out. KJ and I can handle a night without power, but we weren't sure about Louisa. So we threw together some clothes, packed the toothbrushes, and drove back down to Madison to stay in the apartment at my parents'.
The next day, I drove to work and drove home. It's worth my noting that meant I drove the distance between WeHa and Madison FIVE times in 24 hours!
I thought that might be the interesting fact to take away from the storm. But that was easily eclipsed by the fact that we didn't have power for over a week. Lots of West Hartford went 9 days or more. Governor Malloy has repeatedly reminded us that in terms of damage, this is the worst storm in the history of the state. It seems difficult to believe that a snowstorm in October would be worse than all the hurricanes and floods the state has experienced. It's also hard to believe we had such a huge dumping of snow given that the temperature today was in the high 60s. No jacket required.
Even more significant this week for us was the end of maternity leave. KJ's first day back at work was Thursday (11/3), and having to commute an extra 45-minutes on top of the stress of leaving Louisa for the first time (and for such a long time) made the week even more tense. Very fortunately for us, my parents were able to keep their calendars empty this entire past week so that they could help us. They even drove Louisa to the hospital on Thursday, Friday and Monday so KJ could feed her during her lunch break. I drove from work to meet them there, though KJ's timing and the necessity to feed Louisa in a private space kept my parents at the hospital's Au Bon Pain while KJ and I crammed into the residents' day room for most of every lunch hour.
Top: Louisa in her stroller. Above: Grammie pushes Louisa around Hubbard Park.
"AFLAC," anyone? Photos courtesy Papa C.
Martha had planned to come down to help with KJ's transition back to work, but with no power, she couldn't stay in our apartment. And my parents were there to support us, so she didn't come down until yesterday, taking Louisa from my parents who dropped her off at the apartment during lunch. (That meant my parents drove Louisa up to this area four times. I know the distance isn't prohibitive, and they are happy to help, but still!)
KJ may want to add her own sentiments about leaving Louisa for the first time and the stress of not being at home for an entire week due to unforeseen circumstances. But she'll have to do it later in another post. Right now she's embodying the typical working new mother. She's passed out on the couch, her baby sleeping on her chest.
I'm usually the one who accidentally falls asleep on the couch (usually with EPSN on the TV). But with an 80-hour work week on top of feeding the baby every few hours, including overnight, I'm guessing the couch (which is a perfectly comfortable place to fall asleep) is where I'll probably find KJ about this time of evening most evenings.
It's Wednesday, so our new favorite show "Up All Night" is on. "But you can't watch TV if you're asleep!" as KJ has told me numerous times after I've fallen asleep to the soothing dialogues on Sports Center.
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