... why they call it a 'howling wind'. The tall and seemingly sturdy trees outside my house, otherwise so comforting, were swaying so hard that at one time we feared one of them might fall on our apartment complex crushing us in our sleeps. But luckily that scenario never happened and I am glad to report that all of our walls are still standing.
But same could not be said about the power. PSE which is a primary electricity provider in the Greater Puget Sound cut off power to more than 700,000 households in the region, making King County one of the worst hit counties in WA state. Include all other people in rest of WA and OR states, the number quickly rose to over a million. While many of them, including me now have power restored, sitting in the couch with their hot lunch, some unfortunate ones may not get their power until after Christmas!
This was also the first time we lit our fireplaces at the apartment here. Some of us didn't know how to operate it and filled their houses with smokes triggering the fire-alarms and inviting as many as 4 fire-trucks in the apartment! But in general it was a exciting experience as we gathered around the fire, had cold snacks, played cards and some other silly games. And it also meant I did not access internet for more than 48 hrs straight which may be a record for last two-three years.
PS: This post started out on that windy Thursday night, but couldn't be published before because of the reasons obvious.
signing off,
