Re: Stormy Christmas

[Guest guest]

Hey Gillian,

> Way back in 1997, I lived in Rural Kerry.

" Way back in 1997 " ???

At present, we live on a hill in a rural part of East Texas

with " Pineywoods " (a mixture of various pines, oaks, maples,

hickory, sweetgum, dogwood, cedar, redbud, youpon,

huckleberry, wax myrtle, etc.) surrounding us about 4 miles

from the intersection in a very small town.

> ... in the middle of nowhere!

That's how some see our place which we have been

'building' since the summer of '77 on a bit over 9 acres.

There wasn't much 'upkeep' until we cut the timber from

the 2 acres around the house and now have to mow.

But the rewards of the wildlife (deer, birds, squirrels, raccoons,

plus the occasional fox, coyote, etc.) make it a joy.

In the beginning, there was no phone this far out and we had

only one vehicle (of necessity, a truck), so I stayed home.

The first summer was truly interesting: a makeshift outhouse

with no top (lots of fun at night or during rain), a water hose

strung over a tree limb for a shower after we finally got our

well dug to provide water. Previous to that, we bathed in a

metal tub filled with water from plastic jugs and warmed by

the sun.

I cooked and heated water on a camp stove. My birthday gift

that fall was a new seat for the recycled toilet for which we dug

the humongous hole for the " septic tank " you so ably described.

Over the years, we experienced several " power outages " and have

learned to " make do " with candles, gas lantern, kerosene

lanterns, a camp stove, wood burning stove and fireplace, etc.

> ... Me being a cultean, Irish for a person with NO culture, ignorant in

> the rural ways, I fed my cesspool with bacteria I purchased in the shop.

That's how we do it now.

> ... a nice hot cup of tea would do the trick, so

> I went to fill the kettle... no water came out ...

> As our electricity had failed, so had the electricity that

> pumped the water into the " Water Tower " .

In the " old days " , we didn't have a storage tank but now

have a tank (that sits on the ground) holding about 200

gallons from which we can dip water to carry to the house

when there's no electricity.

> So we were pretty stuck to say the least, no television ...

You know -- we didn't have TV at all until about '87 and

I'm convinced our children were the better for it. They

learned to READ! Our daughter liked romances and horror.

The youngest son liked science fiction/fantasy but the elder

son read Star Trek and electronics theory. (Today he's a

computer programmer for Bank One in Phoenix, AZ) We

were regulars at the local public library. They did a lot of

exploring, tree climbing, fort building and crafts. The boys

even tried their hand at crochet and embroidery when I

taught their sister.

> ... we tried to play Dominoes by candle light.

We managed to entertain ourselves and usually went to bed

early, especially on the cold nights because that was the

warmest place to be anyway.

> ... three days after that we got the electricity back on

Ours was off for about a week a couple years ago and we grew

concerned about the freezer thawing out so my hubby borrowed

a gasoline generator to run it long enough to freeze again.

> ... that stark Christmas period was ... to

> be the best yet!

Isn't it amazing what humans are capable of doing when properly

challenged! That's why I have confidence in what this group can

do for each other in support through a difficult disease.

Gillian, thanks for the stories. There's nothing like a great story

teller! You're truly blessed with a unique talent.

Patty B.