Some notes from living without power in Lansing, Michigan

Plugging in at our Biggby's on Waverly Road in Lansing.

Here are some observations about living without power since early Sunday morning after a major ice storm in Lansing, Michigan:

• God has watched over us the whole time as we picked-up our son from the local airport who flew in from Las Vegas to celebrate Christmas.  Instead of nice aromas coming from the kitchen, we have spent time in a local coffee shop where we could plug in our devices to send and receive information and to charge batteries.
• We are thankful for our Horrocks on the westside where they were selling big bags of split logs for less than five bucks, a resonable charge.  We got five bags.
• Many of the traffic lights are out in the city and somehow drivers are getting through intersections safely.  This was our experience during both day and evening hours.
• For lunch Sunday and before the kids flew in, we went for lunch to a nearby Burger King, one of the few restaurants that was open.  It was packed.  People seemed to be in a good mood with lots of smiles and plenty of patience.  The BK staff was running like a well-oiled machine.
• The parking lot at the Capital City Airport Sunday was operating with gates up and with no cost to parkers.  That was nice.
• Driving around the city has been real heads up with plenty of fallen power lines and many downed trees.  

A big item that seemed to be missing was communication.  There were minimal ways to be connected to the outside world.  However, local coffee shops seemed to have power and they encouraged patrons to warm-up and to use it as a base to connect to the outside world.

Right now, we are anxious to see if our power is on at home.  How will we celebrate Christmas?  Probably by wearing many different layers.