Ice Ice Christmas

like an ice age. naw.

It was an icy Christmas.  And if that weren't enough.  Let's knock out the power.
The blackout was sporadic around the city.  And was widespread to the whole GTA and outlying regions.
They said 500,000 people were affected.

My sister's house in Caledon was out of power before ours in TO. Their whole village was dark.  Sort of eerie.  Like the Blair Witch Project.  Or most small US cities.

lights out.

So I dropped Kieran off at her place and went home to watch the Leaf game.  I wished that it was blacked out because it was a lousy game.  They played a bit better. Still the gained a point.  I thought we had been spared by the ice gods.

But no World Junior hockey on today.  No power since 3:30am. But there was power at the rink. I was on the icy fence on whether to go play hockey or stay home and chip ice.  I was more concerned about the roads.  But they were fine.  But traffic lights were out. They weren't even blinking.  They were off.

coming home from hockey

Glad I went to play.  It was fun.  The people that come out to skills + pickup are great.  And plus I got to take a hot shower.

Yorkdale was out of power.  But I didn't know until later.  But the parking lot was full.

We didn't realize the extent until later.  But that didn't stop people from trying to shop?  Or be a mall rat.

beautiful destruction

Most of our area still has power lines above ground.  And that's the problem.  Trees all over the city are bent over from being covered with ice.  It looks very pretty, especially when there is a working light shining on it.

But some areas with mature trees, especially in the really nice areas of the city were really hit hard.  Large branches crashing down on power lines, breaking poles. Some house had their power ripped out.

Because of the holidays. restoration of power will be delayed.  I feel bad for the many that are out of power still.  It has gotten very cold.  -17 deg C at night.  And today Christmas, it will continue.  Most stores are closed the next 2 days, so people can't even get food if they need it.

We are very lucky.  We got our power back on after 20hrs.  My sister had to wait another day.   Our friends in Swansea are still without power.  Although every street around them has power.

Many will be out for a while.

Loblaws. Fresh food?

This is our grocery store. Hope they didn't have to throw out much food.
It's amazing how something so pretty can wreak so much havoc.  Not having power for a bit was okay.  But after several days the fun quickly wears thin.

I knew friends that did winter camping.  Not something that I think I could do.  I'm from the tropics you know! 

Still trying to get used to cold weather after all these years.  Feels like I'm always cold.

At Tresa's parents house.  I think their birch tree has seen it's last winter.

End of Birch.

When the power outage happened, large parts of Etobicoke were dark.  From Runnymede all the way to hwy 427, traffic lights were not working.  It was eerie driving along the Gardiner and seeing the condo buildings dark and lightless.  It was like no one lived there.

I wish drivers were more courteous with each other.  There's no rush.  It's not a race.  There's no winner, when people are just rude.  Christmas spirit seems to be lost on people.  It's not marketing or advertising or big sales and discounts.  It's a bit sad that this is what it has become.

However,  I saw FB posts of people who got power sharing their home for anyone that still hadn't had power.  It was an awesome gesture.  It's important that we choose not to forget the meaning of the Christmas season.  And carry it throughout the year.  Not just for 1 day.


"Word to your motha" - Vanilla Ice