Derecho storm 2020 swept through our city on Monday night, downing trees and wreaking havoc with electric power lines. Some neighborhoods have more trees than others, so power outages are sporadic. We live on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by great big old trees. Usually a blessing, but not during this latest wind/rain storm that barreled across the Midwest at 90 miles per hour. We got through an 18 hour power outage, but as octogenarians, it was tough. Here are the lessons learned from Derecho.

Morning coffee is a necessity. But if the power’s off, you’re not going to have any. Unless, of course, you are a camper or someone who has the foresight to have a battery operated coffee maker. We don’t do any camping these days, so we were out of luck.

Learn how to open garage door by hand. Years ago, we sold a vintage Volkswagen convertible and spent the proceeds on an electric garage door. There’s just one problem. It doesn’t work in a power outage. We were told at the time how to open the door manually, but we forgot. Consequently, we weren’t able to get to our car  to go searching for someplace selling coffee until after we could get in touch with the garage door company. This is after 10 o‘clock. Hey, there’s a little hand pull that unlocks the door. Then you push it up by hand, folks. Simple? Yes. How could we have been so dumb? By that time, we’d made an emergency call to our son who went scouting around the city and found us some coffee at a McDonalds. That’s pretty good coffee, by the way.

You may need some sleep aids. The power went off at 6:30 p.m. No TV, no internet. Fortunately, we had several flashlights and candles to light our path. We drank wine, ate some gifted chocolate candy, and talked for hours. I can’t  remember much of our conversation. I guess we solved all the problems of the world.

By this time, we’re wired.  Still waiting for power.  Finally decided  to go to bed and sleep though the whole thing.  That didn’t work.  We’re both waking every hour, wondering if /or when the power is going back on.  Our next door neighbors said they had the same experience.  Looking back, I think I would have taken a Benadryl or whatever you keep in your medicine cabinet to help you get to sleep when you’re upset.

Heating/cooling system stops working.  In our case, it had been 90 degrees outside.  After the storm, we opened the windows, but the house was still hot and stuffy.  We got to wondering about a winter power outage.  We have an all electric home.  This power outage lasted 18 hours, but at least we were warm.  What if it happens again in January?  Again, we need some camping equipment.  We’re going to buy some camping heaters ASAP, before we forget what it’s like when the power goes out. Might even invest in a coffee maker.

Ditch the damned diet.  It’s hard to eat healthy at a time like this.  You don’t want to keep opening and closing the refrigerator and freezer doors.  Can’t make smoothies because the blender doesn’t work. No soup, because you can’t heat it.  Grab some peanut butter and crackers.  Cheese. Junk food, if you have it stashed  in the cupboard.  Maybe some chocolate bars. No restaurants for us during this pandemic. So, it’s drive-through hamburgers and French fries for dinner. Don’t weigh yourself when it’s over.

Remember the boy scout motto before the next Derecho:  Be prepared!