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70+ hours ofno electricity, no heat, no hot water, no phone, and no wi-fi internet service.

I am wellaware of the fact that a significant percentage of the populations of the worldlive everyday in above conditions as the norm. But for the average Americancity dwellers, such living conditions are exceptional. The Northeast states ofthe US experienced a record setting early snowfall (close to 30 inches in someparts of Massachusetts) this past weekends. Because most trees have not shedtheir leaves, the wet snow created a heavy burden on the tree branches causingmany of them to break. As a result many electric power transmission lines werebrought down and there were wide spread loss of electric power throughout theregion. In Massachusetts some 3 million plus people were without power for days.Our home was no exception. In addition our phone line was also down with it theoptical broadband connection to the Internet. The only things working were ourcell phone (while its battery lasted) and the automobile. We dressed warmly,ate out in restaurants that are still open, moved About by candle light, andslept under two layers of down blankets. In fact, it reminds my wife and I ofthe conditions during WWII in the interior of China where we studied undercandle light, go to bed with heavy cover, thick pajamas, and socks. Often ittakes half the night to warm up under cover. We also went friends’ house tohave shower/bath. All together it was not a bad experience.

Below aresome photos taken just outside of our home showing the devastation of the stormon trees. (The snow melted quickly by the time these photos were taken).