As we talked with one of their neighbors (and former bishop), we explained what all needed to be done. He said, “I can do that!” He is a builder, and told us that he had all of the tools, supplies, and experience to fix the mast for us! By this time, it was late Saturday night. We decided to head over to our house Sunday morning to work on it.
So, Sunday morning, about the time that church services were cancelled or shortened, and about the time that the clean-up crew came back to cut apart and haul away the tree, Rick climbed onto the roof. He had his tools, his tar, and Ryan as his assistant. Papa and I stood where we could monitor both the work on the roof and the work in the front yard. We also continued raking and cleaning up smaller debris in the backyard.
As he was working, we suddenly realized that several power company workers (from Provo and Springville) came walking through the yard behind us. He called us over, and said that they were told on the street above that I was still without power and needed help. It turned out that my friend, Sherrie, saw them working on her street. She knew that we were still without power, so she went outside and told them they needed to come and see what they could do to help me. She told them that I am a single mom, and really needed their help. She is also a single mom, and we’ve become good friends. I’m so glad she was looking out for me, and had the courage to go outside and instruct the power workers to walk through the neighbor’s yard to get to my house!
(I forgot to mention in earlier posts that from the very first day, we saw power trucks from Logan to Springville, working through the night to restore power everywhere. It was wonderful to see so many cities from northern Utah rally to help during the disaster, as well as all of the individuals who chipped in to help.)
So, as Rick was finishing on the roof, one of the Provo/Springville guys came over to take a look at the mast and the meter. He verified that there wasn’t any internal damage to the wiring, and since the mast was fixed, they could restore the power! I haven’t seen as many sights as beautiful as the power dude climbing the pole to reconnect the wires!
Something that made me chuckle – as they were finishing connecting the wires, Sherrie drove up, and walked into the back yard to make sure that they had really made it to my house! I hugged her and thanked her, and then I hugged Rick and thanked him. I’m so grateful for such wonderful friends who watch out for our family! We have many.
By the time the power workers finished, the clean-up was done in the front yard. We checked to make sure that the power was on and that the furnace started up. Then, because it was still so cold in the house, we went back to Rara & Papa’s for a few hours. We had picked up Copper the day before (due to the cost of keeping him there, primarily), and had him at Rara & Papa’s. It was nice to finally all be home in our WARM house! I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the fridge, and throwing away most of the food. I try to be so frugal (and even taught a couple of Relief Society lessons on how to be frugal!), that it was hard to throw so much away. But since the power was off for about 80 hours, I decided to be safe. :)
Unfortunately, when the power was restored, we realized that our phone and internet was not restored. When I called to have it repaired, they told me that they could have a technician to my home on Thursday – a FULL WEEK after it initially went out! I explained that I worked from home, and asked if there was any way they could get to me sooner. Nope. The hundreds of other customers without phone and internet wanted it “sooner,” too. So, every day the week following the storm, I took Ryan to school, and then worked at Rara & Papa’s all day. When Ryan was out of school, we’d go to swim team, and then go home for the evening. It was crazy, but it made me appreciate the flexibility I have of working from home.
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