Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 - 10:25 a.m.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I love ice! The Great Ice Storm of 2003 hit us pretty hard here in central Kentucky, turning anything stationary into an ice sculpture, and the roads a skating rink. The whole fiasco started early Sunday morning at around 3:30 when I heard what sounded like two cannon blasts directly outside my bedroom window. Two transformers blew and a power line fell, causing a power outage for as far as I could see in every direction around me.
After calming from the initial shock of the startling noise, I went to sleep with the expectation that power would be restored before I woke up. I awakened a little after ten in the morning to see that there was still no power. I turned on the battery powered radio to the AM talk station to find out that, at that time, an estimated 60,000 people in Lexington were without power.
I got bored sitting around my apartment by noon, so I (literally) dug my car out to find a store open to buy film for my camera so I could take pictures downtown. P.S., long story short, that seemingly simple task turned into two hours of driving around in what can best be described as a war zone, with fallen trees blocking most every major road out of downtown/campus and downed power lines everywhere. After a couple of hours of driving, I finally found a Speedway mart open. Fifteen bucks for a bottle of Ale-8, a pack of Twinkies, a pack of batteries and some 400-speed film. The price one pays for convenience.
I returned home, bundled up in all my warm clothing, and hit the streets to witness the beauty that the disaster unleashed upon downtown. I would describe it, but I'd rather wait until the pictures are developed to show exactly what I saw. It was simply amazing.
Without getting too terribly drawn out with this, I was out of power a total of about sixteen hours, briefly spent time at Alyssa's, where there was still heat, and have spent the last two days at home since the university has been closed for the two days. Nobody I know remembers a time when this has happened before, so it feels like I'm living in a historic moment as I spend the day in my underwear surfing the 'net.
With that, I'm going to try and find a one-hour photo that's open. Wish me luck!
