As the wind dies down

Wow, the 500th post turned out to be marking a wicked couple of days, with ups and downs all along. To catch up:

As the rain was coming down and the wind was building up on Wednesday night and Thursday day, Otis and I got the house all set for the Art Show. Part of that was hanging up the winter lights,

which was lots of fun in the breezy-gusty: I actually had to fasten the modesty snaps on my kilt!

We got goodies from TJ's,

re-arranged furniture, arranged literature,

hung art,

and all that, knowing full well that there might be little-to-no participation in the Art Walk because of the weather. That growing suspicion was confirmed when we walked to Subway for a bite and were drenched after less than two blocks.

We persevered anyway, and held a very wet dry run of an art show. Family and friends showed up in great support. The Reality Mom had come by earlier in the day with Stellita, and on the night itself Puntam Pater was the first to arrive. The Invisibles (Adam & Karen) came as serious buyers, and the library representation included TonyToniTone & Skippy as well as J-Force & Keeper. Kris-10 came with Jam & Poe and their little Banana; Dingo braved the downhill slide from Cap Hill, b & c stopped by on their way to salsa, Soapy came all the way from Kent, and JagGirl came last (as usual). While Otis didn't get to represent to the neighborhood or promote her biz, we called it a good night anyway. The Roosevelt Art Walk is a monthly event; she'll participate again soon.

Thanks to all who came and yay, Otis!

(Otis has her own post 0n Quiet Girl Gallery)

So, we went to bed after the art show, but didn't get much sleep. We didn't prep much for the wind storm, other than putting a sandbag on Outside Cat's house, so he wouldn't pull a dorothy, and we weren't worried much about damage, since there's nothing big close by that could fall on the house. But the whipping of wind was really loud, and Inside Cat was pretty freaky, so it was a restless night.

The power went off about 3:00 am, so Friday was weird day. We had hot water for showers and such, but left to find breakfast and wireless internet and that. We had coffee at Third Place Books, but their wi-fi was overloaded, so after a stop at home we went up to Cap Hill (since Dingo said it was normal up there), had lunch at a completely slammin' Piecora's, and then used the Cap Hill library for web surfing (Otis) and grading (me).

When we came home in the afternoon, power was still out. Putnam Pater & Mater were in town, since LFP will likely be dark for days, so we had a nice dinner at Araiya's together. Otis and I walked back to the house while the P's went to a movie; we could see clearly where the grid around our place, which was still dark, extended: here there was light, there there was not. Man, you forget how dark it is on city streets without streetlights and light leakage from houses.

So, out we went again, first on some fruitless errands and then to the Barnes & Noble to find wi-fi and read a bit. We hung out there a bit, and then came home to set up powerless camp for the night. We had just arrayed all the candles and set up the futon in front of the gas fireplace when the power came back. All of a sudden, the bother and the fun were both over, and everything was normal again.

So normal, in fact, that I think after brekkies and a walk, I'll be back to grading.