10 weeks, 4647.5 miles later

The Zeppelin Hangar is standing, which is always reassuring to see regardless of the fact that I knew it was long before I turned down the driveway.

I came in through Monson. All the online photos and media coverage I saw of the tornado destruction there are but pale memories compared to the reality of what I saw today, after three full weeks of clean-up. Wow.

Tornado track close-up, annotated This is a portion of the photo NASA's Earth Observatory posted a few days after an EF3 tornado cut a 39-mile swath through West Springfield, Springfield, Monson, Brimfield, Southbridge, and beyond on Wednesday, June 1, 2011. This image gives you a closer look at the annotated part of the image.

My other two reasonable choices for getting to Toad Woods from the Mass Pike also involve crossing the tornado's path. They're both closer to home, but the damage along those routes isn't likely to affect me as directly as the damage in Monson will. Adam's Market in Monson, my nearest full grocery store, is closed due to damage and isn't expected to reopen until late August.

Instead of a 13-mile round trip to Adam's Market, I'll have a 26-mile round trip to the Stop and Shop on the far side of Sturbridge. And that will start tomorrow, just as soon as I empty and clean my fridge and freezer. I can tell from the shape and feel of the refrozen vegetables and other contents that everything completely thawed while the electricity was out for a few days. In the fridge itself, even the butter smells rancid.

At least the phone is working again. It was still out when I tried calling three days ago.

I'm getting off easy. Really, truly easy. And tonight, I get to sleep in my very own bed. Tonight as in now. GoshWow.

The Refrigerator of Cognitive Dissonance

This post truly needs photos, but if I wait for them, it'll never get made.

The outside of my refrigerator looks just like you'd expect a fridge to look after 7 years of my presence: a variety of magnets holding up a variety of photos, comics, business cards, news clippings (including the headline "A Fan is a Terrible Thing to Waste"), a bag of Genuine Dust Bunnies that were a gift from tagwn and Denny Lien upon moving into Toad Hall in 1983, etc. A bit over 150 separate pieces of kipple and magnets in all.

The inside of my refrigerator looks...empty. Well, not entirely, just all but. There are 4 bags/cans of coffee in the freezer that are deemed safe and not too ancient. Two cold packs. A miniature bottle of aquavit from I don't remember. The fridge has an as-yet-unopened bottle of "refrigerate after opening" apricot nectar, 4 bottles of bheer and hard cider, plus 2 bottles and 4 cans of ginger beer.

The inside is also cleaner than at any time since I moved in. Yes, I've cleaned it from time to time between then and now, but never all at once, fridge and freezer both. It doesn't look new, but it doesn't look so crammed and shabby, either.

What's next? A trip to the grocery store, of course.