McHenry County Blog

Although we did not open the refrigerator door once, the milk spoiled.

My microbiologically trained bride decided the eggs and all sorts of other stuff—like th frozen meat--had to be tossed. She said the ice cream even melted out of the freezer, ruining goodness knows what gems of refrigerator magnets.

We still had ice in the freezer, but that was not enough to convince my bride that is was worth the risk to save lots of frozen goods.

Of course, it is an act of nature, so Commonwealth Edison assumes no responsibility.

Our home in Lakewood has never been without electricity and phone service for 25 hours before. And, unlike those on city water, we had only the water that was pressurized in the small tank which is between our spickets and our well.

So, no water, no electricity, no phone and no internet service. All we had was natural gas and it was not needed, given the temperature and our inability to take a shower.

It was a peaceful day.

My soon-to-be 9-year old and I went to the beach, where a fair number of our neighbors decided would also be a good place to be, if one could not have air conditioning. It was also a way to rinse some of the grime off one's body with no shower in the offing.

I continued reading another summer novel, “The Romanov Prophecy” by Steve Berry. The heat was not oppressive with a swift breeze coming across the lake from the northeast.

The night before I was in Chili’s eating a late dinner with some Illinois Family Institute folks when the electricity on Route 14 went out.

The restaurant’s generator kicked on in what seemed to be less than a second, so our meal was not disrupted. In fact, the storm was over when we walked to our cars.

I drove around a bit and found this tree being moved from the westbound land on Route 14 just past Dole Avenue. The tree could still be seen a day and a half later, although no longer on the highway.

Right across from where the Gay Games officials, volunteers and rowers were grouped in Crystal Lake’s Main Beach park electric lines laid on Lake Avenue for all of Tuesday. A non-repair truck from Commonwealth Edison was there all day to make certain people did not get close to the wires.

The street was closed from Country Club Road where the flags that I didn’t get a picture of briefly were waved past the “First Amendment Participation Area” where the Christians held up their signs past Riverside Drive to Gate 4 in Lakewood.

Police blocked Riverside at Broadway. That wasn’t the only road closed in Lakewood.

Farther down Broadway, at Meridian St., a maple blocked the south lane. The pretty big tree looked like a snapped tooth pick.

I didn't see this duplicated elsewhere in Crystal Lake. Usually, it was a large limb that had been blown down by the Monday night storm. this one is on McHenry Avenue across from Immanuel Lutheran School.

But as bad off as one might think one is, as I type this about 6 PM Wednesday, I hear that 9,000 people in Chicagoland are still without power.

I wonder if one of them is the young man I met this morning who lives at the end of East Main Street in Cary. He lives so far down this road that he is across the McHenry County-Lake County line.

He mentioned he was on a well and couldn’t take a shower. It was easy to identify with him. He said he was going to McHenry County College. Maybe he will use the health club there.

When I went to Jewell, I asked what had happened there.

One woman said that they were fortunate to have had a half-empty refrigerated truck unloading and were able to store the meat in there the 8 hours the store was without power. Employees came in during the early morning to help with the job of protecting the temperature sensitive food.