Cyclone Part 2

As darkness falls over the ‘wasteland’ for that is what it seems now in some respects, we feel as though we are shell shocked. From our home, we can see houses and roads that had been previously blocked off by trees and today we went for a little drive to get out of the house and to catch up with some friends. Roads were blocked by trees and at the end of our road, a tree has fallen on to powerlines. It gets darker and there are no street lights and only a few homes that have generator-run lights.

There are no man-made noises of TVs and every now and again, I hear a kookaburra laugh which surprises me but gives me hope. I sent Andy off to run with Milly up the street and burn off some energy. We went to visit some friends and they kindly gave me their phone so I could message Nathan and tell him how I was. It’s at times like this, that one misses their family and I asked him to message my dad and put an update on Facebook. I went around to another friend’s place and she showed me what family and friends had put on Facebook and that gave me a link to them too. She took a photo of Milly so that people could see Milly was doing OK. She has a generator so it was good to wash hands, flush a toilet and be given some cold water and food.

When we came home, there were warnings of a thunderstorm approaching. I took out my guitar to practise and keep toughening up my fingers on the steel strings. After playing the scales through E to G, 2 octaves and a bit, I practised a few chord changes. Playing minor chords was a reflection of my mood. The cyclone has been nerve-wracking. No phone or internet reminds me of how dependent I am on technology to keep in touch with my family so even though I don’t always talk with them every day, when I ‘can’t’ talk to them, I feel isolated apart from them.

I want to be reconnected to power and phone/internet. As I write this, the thunder rolls and aware that the battery on this is getting lower, I know I should cease my writing and wait until tomorrow. We are on school holidays a week early but in some ways, it’s not as liberating as it would have been next week. I suggested to Andy that we leave and go away now but we have no idea if we can get out. It’s highly unlikely due to floods and who know if there would be trees across the road and how far ‘away’ we could get. Should we be here anyway, until the power comes back on – which could be another week?!

So darkness has almost completely come but there aren’t any stars shining right now because of cloud cover. I’ve caught up with a few friends around here but I still wonder about how others are coping. When we were at Matt’s place, their 2-week old baby was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the stuff we are going through.

Morning will come and with it, we will see what the new day will bring.