The weather in Wilkes has taken a nasty turn ...

... and eventually got around to our house. On Easter weekend we had two days of all night lows in the 40s which destroyed the peach crop and probably most of the apple crop. In an agricultural community these are heavy blows.

Then Sunday and Monday we had two days of absolutely ferocious wind. Except up on a mountain top, or in Minnesota, I had never seen such severe wind. By Tuesday morning though it seemed to be over, we thought.

Then as I sat at my computer in my home office the power went off and I heard the loud POP of electrical equipment blowing out. This has happened several times before (most memorably the last time our niece Mulan was down). I have to assume it is because Duke Power just hasn't installed proper equipment, but maybe not.

I thought it would take about 2 hours to get the crews out here and have it fixed, but I forgot to reckon with the wind storm. Trees, branches, and power lines were out all over the state, so all the Wilkes county crews had a backlog. At first Duke told us it would be 48 hours before it could be fixed, which seemed a bit excessive.

In fact the power came back on about 25 hours after it blew out. Thank goodness - Carmen and I were all set to go over the the 'Y' to take our showers. The food in our fridge ought to be OK, and I won't have to write any more letters by candlelight.