Occupying Pond Hill Road

November 4, 2011
by Susan Rubin

We were out of power after Saturday afternoon’s wacky storm that dumped a ton of wet snow on our leaf-filled trees.

Unlike many of our New Castle neighbors who have fled the ‘hood for hotels, we continue to occupy our home. Its a family adventure that I highly recommend.

Its all a matter of perspective. Here’s what we have going for us this time. Let me count the small things working in our favor that are enabling us to occupy our home in these unusual circumstances.

#1 We can leave if we want to. Unlike the mini-tornado that hit our block last summer and left a giant pine tree in the street for two days, we are able to drive the heck out of here! That helps mentally and physically. We can go out for a cup of tea and to charge our computers.  The library offers pretzels, coffee and electric outlets, all in a heated atmosphere. We even hopped a train into the city for the Halloween parade since Halloween didn’t happen here due to the downed powerlines still buried in snow.

#2 We have both a wood burning stove and a fireplace. We are toasty warm most of the time. We’ve got plenty of wood because hubby cut up all the trees that came down during Hurricane Irene.  There is something very soothing about sitting in front of a fire late at night. Especially when the TV is not competing for attention.

#3 We have water. The town water continues to work during this long emergency. Water is handy for drinking, washing and making hot water bottles.  It would be a completely different story if we had no water.

#4 We have a gas stove. Making it super easy to heat water for tea, hot water bottles cooking and even bathing (bird bath style!). If the propane were to run out, we could use the wood burning stove to heat our water, but we’re not there yet. A gas stove makes life with no electricity very bearable. We’ve had some nice meals in a past couple of days. Hot water bottles in your bed make sleeping in cool weather quite do-able.

#5 We have lots of good candles. Not the stinky scented kind, the good beeswax kind along with some unscented tea lights make lovely mood lighting in the kitchen and bathroom. Note: exercise caution when using candles. They can burn your house down if you’re not mindful.

#6 We have groovy headlamps. I bought one for every family member after Hurricane Irene. They strap on your head and provide strong light in whatever direction you like. Great for walking down dark halls or reading a book in a dark bedroom.

#7 We have cars with gas in the driveway. This allows us to charge our Crackberrys and iPhones. The smart phones enable us to read others updates on Facebook and Twitter, so we’re still connected to the outside world.

#8 We have a handy refrigerator right outside our front door. Just put the milk in the snowbank and it stays cold and fresh.

The inconvenient truth is that these wacky storms will continue to hit here and everywhere else as global weirding continues to become the new norm. The sooner we learn to adopt an attitude of resilience the better off we’ll be.  Running away to the Ramada Inn or the Ritz Carlton when the power goes out can be unsustainable financially and it doesn’t bond your family or block together as occupying your home does.

Susan Rubin is a long time Chappaqua resident and mom of 3 who is deeply concerned about climate change and resource depletion.  She is a member of Transition Westchester.