Photo by Derek Gallery photo |
Charles Frost Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Dec. 26: Flew into Boston Friday evening the 19th after being delayed in a holding pattern over Gardner for 30 minutes. Amazing how those pilots can land a plane in such low-visibility conditions. The drive north was a bit wild -- had to keep the heater and blower going full blast to melt the ice on the windshield. Very reassuring on Interstate-95 to see the highway department plows in groups of six clearing the snow in echelon formation. Finally gave it up and took a motel at Portsmouth Circle. Proceeded on to Pamela's the next day. On Tuesday Janice flew up from Washington, DC, where she had been visiting her younger sister. Fortunately, no hazardous weather. A nice day, in fact. Photo: Digging out the cars at Derek's house Monday morning the 22nd after the second storm. Dec. 22: So nice to be back in Maine again. Getting plenty of exercise shoveling snow. Staying at Derek's place over the Holidays. Just off the top of my head I can't recall the name of your relative/friend who was concerned about the public library in Hubbardston. Saw a wonderful book in the Truman State University bookstore about a library cat that brought regional, state, national and even international attention to the library of a small Iowa town. It's called Dewey and was authored by Vicki Myron. Stay warm. Love. Charlie and Janice |
Photo by Nancy |
Polly Joubert Yesterday we had a celebration of our marriage which took place on December 3rd at the Webster Town Hall. Stan's son Randy, his wife Debbie and their sons Matt and Josh and daughter Emily came up from Worcester, MA for the occasion which made it really special. Rennie, Di, Shan, Warren and Matt came as well as John and Cathy. Kevin and Lori couldn't make it as Lori had surgery recently and is still recuperating. I'm hoping we can make a trip down to see them before leaving for Florida in January, but if not will give them a call. Our neighbors were invited but there's a miserable stomach bug as well as a sore throat and cold going around, so they couldn't come. Eleanor and Ray, two houses down, couldn't come, but Eleanor made a nice soft "cuddling blanket". These are the neighbors that brought pails of water, drinking water, and a pot of steaming coffee two of the days we were without power in the latest storm. We lost power on a Thursday night and it came back on on Monday morning. Thankfully we have the propane heater in the basement; that kept the house in the 60s. Not bad at all, compared to what many people in the southern part of the state endured. I heard from Tom via email and he was without power in Hubbardston, I think for a week. Love, Polly |
a party of it. |
Dorothy Salminen It hit very suddenly on Friday, December 12th all across the State. Snap, bang, crash as branches and trees were breaking with the sudden build up of ice. Our power went off at around 5:45 p.m. I was sitting across the living room in my recliner now in total blackness. I knew that the direction of the door was diagonally across and that a chair had been pulled out from the dining table where I had been quilting so proceeded very carefully across the room. When my left hand hit a pillow I knew that I was on the wrong end of the sectional and had to change direction. I never had a good sense of direction. The emergency lignt in the hall was on so now I could see to get my coat and leave. I knew that building A was hooked up to generator power so I walked over there by flashlight. Building A has been recently totally renovated for assisted living so still had 13 apartments empty - exactly the number of residents left in building B. Brand new emergency cots were brought in. Oh, my! Have you ever tried to get out of a cot that has a frame all the way around - no other furniture in the room to hold on to. With my artificial knees it was very challenging. Had to sleep with a flashlight under my pillow because there was no light in the apartments. We were fed three meals a day with coffee all day. Meals were from emptying our refrigerators and freezers and from local stores whose perishibles would otherwise spoil. We really had fun. Called it an ongoing pajama party. We had jigsaw puzzles going as well as cribbage games. There were Police, Fire, Highway, and Utility workers coming in for coffee and to get warm all day. One woman who lives in the 55+ condos up the road was told by the police to come to our "shelter". She not only stayed there, she pitched in and worked in the kitchen and helped in many ways. We were sad to hear that when she finally got home her apartment was full of water. Her pipes had burst! We finally got our power back on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 18th. I did go out with Teddie on Saturday and stopped on the side of the road to take a picture of the broken telephone pole hanging over the road and a man stopped in his pickup truck to help us. He thought we were in trouble. He had come from NH! After that we knew of aid that came in from many other states. People really are nice! We all had to try to refill our refrigerators but the grocery stores were pretty well picked over. Got to admit there were lots of laughs!! Two days later we were bombed with a two day snow storm that left us with 12" of snow. Our power has gone off three times since December 12th so I for one did not get my Christmas cards sent out this year but to all who read this I hope you had a merry Christmas and have a healthy, happy New Year. Love, Dotty |
come in handy. |
Jane McCauley Dec. 26: We sure had a bad week after the ice storm of 2008. Luckily we were luckier prepared than most, being oldtime Yankees. We had a hookup for a generator and were able to obtain a new one from Home Depot when they sent for a load from S.C. We were two days without any power and it was below 0. Then we got the generator hooked up and it was a blessing. We have a wood stove in the cellar, which we used to heat the house enough to keep from freezing the pipes, and to cook on. We also hitched up a three burner camping gas stove to cook on. We put the things in the freezers into coolers packed with ice and put them in the garden shed until we got the generator going. We also got the items from our daughter's freezer to put in ours when the generator started. Gas was a problem because none of the filling stations had power. There was no water for anyone in Hubbardston....pumps run on power. We melted on the third day, so we collected rain from the roof to flush toilets as our 25 stored gallons of water was used to flush toilets....We filled them up as soon as the generator was working. We used a lot of candles and flashlights. One of the best things we had was the head light that Ken had, and all the kids got them for Christmas this year. Another handy thing was the grill lighter for lighting candles. We set up the living room table as the command center and used our cell phones to check on elderly neighbors that still had phones. Once we had power we listened to radio station WTAG, which provided the best advice and information for all area towns, including reports from the command centers everywhere in Central Mass. It was our only link to the outside. Now we know what our ancestors went through. One neighbor spent the first night going back and forth on Ragged Hill Road with his bucket loader to keep the road open for emergency vehicles....he needs a citation. That is always my biggest worry, if we can get out for an emergency illness..... We are back in business again but the woods are a really bad mess. The two grandsons cleared the back yard, and Ken did the driveway, which had downed trees every four feet. That is the news from 75 Ragged Hill Road, Hubbardston. We got our power back in 8 days and telephone back in 9. Jane McCauley Happy New 2009..... |
Gallery photo |
Mary Cosgrove Here's a pic. of my son and me taken last summer in front of his new trailer. Mary Ed. note: Mary also sent us some photos from the December 2008 ice storm in Oregon, and a couple of them are shown at the left. - - RDM |
Tokyo, Japan |
Jean Kioye Ogawa Dear Nancy and Bob, 2009 has started with hopes. The economical situation is still bad, but we do hope that 2009 and your new president will bring better life to all over the world. Received your poems with thanks. I started to read 'Morning Poems' and am still reading. Nancy, you have so many talents, quilts, poems, writings, singing, drawings, etc. Hope the new year brings you happiness. Love, Jean |
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