What a weekend

The pictures I put up on Friday were just a taste of what we experienced during our first "storm" up here on the mountain. Remember that branch I said was resolutely guarding the Subaru? Well, it didn't do as good a job as I'd liked. About 2 hours after the picture was taken, I noticed that there were some big branches on the roof of the guest house (behind the Subaru) and that the cupola was gone. Here's a last glimpse of that bit of architecture:

See the little cupola sticking out from behind the carport? Ok, maybe you can't - but rest assured that it was *there* when that picture was taken. Anyway, the loss of the cupola was enough to persuade Chris to pull on his foul weather gear (thank the patron diety of man-made fabrics for Gore-Tex!) and head out to ensure that there wasn't a torrent of water in our proto-cottage.

After a short dash, and an even shorter disappearance into the cottage, he came back out and headed for the house. That led him to actually *LOOK* at the back of the car. What did he see? Well, basically that feared localized monsoon wasn't in the cottage - it was in the rear cargo area of the wagon. The passenger tail light assembly was also in pieces and the rearmost glass on that same side was shattered (but intact - initially). After a retreat back in to the house and some furious strategizing, we headed back to the cottage, retrieved a Big Blue Tarp (tm) and put it around the lift gate. Chris accidentally bumped the side glass and that caused a good chunk of it to cave in. Ah well. Problem solved, for now.

Power was out by this time, along with internet and also the phones. Cell service is spotty but we managed to open a claim with the insurance company and persuade the local dealership (7 miles and 2000' of elevation away) to take it and park it out of the rain. We battled window and door leaks (water coming in UNDER the thresholds), wrangled with the generator and marveled at the sheer force of the elements for most of the day. When it finally slowed down, we headed down the hill and put the car in capable hands.

Power has since come back as of about 1p on Sunday - and we're reveling in the cozy warmth of the furnace and a renewed appreciation for hot water. (electric hot water heater high on replacement list) No one was injured, no one died and we also managed to throw our annual 12th night party without the help of utilities.

2008 is certainly looking to be an interesting year.