Mother Nature's Trick or Treat

I had this cute photo of Toby in his pumpkin costume all set to display on my blog on Halloween, and then Mother Nature sent a freakish snowstorm our way and knocked out my access to the computer.  So here he is, better late than never...

Trick or Treat!

We were very fortunate that we did not lose electricity like so many did in our town and the neighboring towns.  However, we did lose a large tree which fell down next to our house and took along our Internet, cable and telephone service wire with it.  No fun to look up and see this:

At least the sky was blue!  In fact, the day after the storm was a gorgeous clear sunny day.  Looking around at the snow on the foliage was odd, but also quite pretty.

We went to church on Sunday and learned that they had lost their electricity.  We had Mass just the same in the cold, dim church lit only by candles and whatever light came in through the stained glass windows.  With the sun and the snow outside, the colors in the windows were practically glowing.   I snapped this pic quickly with my cell phone as we were leaving just to remember how lovely the stained glass was.  It's quite overexposed, but it gives you an idea.

We also found that the grocery store had no electricity.  We stopped in to get a few things and were surprised it was still open.  A store clerk told us that they had generators for the most important things:  the lighting, the refrigeration, the cash registers and .... the time clock!  No sneaking out in the dark for those employees!

Speaking of employees, I'm very grateful to all the state, city and utility workers who put in so many hours to help get the power restored.  The majority of things are back to normal, except for the sound of chainsaws as people all over clean up after the storm.  Lots of wood for the fireplace!