Day 14 of the Apocalypse, Ground Zero, Gerton, NC pop. 231

Our dachshund Winston is not a morning dog. Yesterday, after 2 weeks of getting up early every day, he decided he was done with our apocalypse lifestyle. When I opened the dog crate, at the reasonable hour of 8 am, he hid. Our other dachshund, Leroy, of course, leapt into action.

Leroy is food-motivated. Winston is self-care motivated.

After turning the generator on, feeding Leroy, and making my breakfast, I eventually went back into our bedroom to discover Winston napping under the covers on my side of the bed, soaking up the warmth I had left behind. I let him be.

Winston finally emerged at 11 am, ready to be cuddled, but not for activities like going outside to pee, especially because he does not consider himself to be a dog. Instead, he climbed into my lap and wrapped his neck around my neck - his way of comforting/suffocating me.

Winston always knows when it’s time for us to rest as a family, so Jeff and I took a rest day yesterday.

We really, really needed it. This was the first slow day we’ve had, since the rain/hurricane started on September 25th.

Jeff continued his online efforts to solicit donations (cash, Starlink, and small generators). The photo is of him, crouched next to our kitchen island first thing in the morning. He’s charging his phone while responding to messages, what he does for the first hour of every morning.

You’ll note that Jeff is also fashionably wrapped in a red doggie blanket, attempting to keep warm, because we don’t turn on the heat when the generator is running. Running our HVAC system uses a LOT of propane, so we’re saving that for when we really need it.

While Jeff was on his phone, I finally created a spreadsheet of the 55! people who have already donated to our Gerton community - through Jeff or me, so we’re tracking everyone. If you are one of those donors - thank you. We’re still assessing how to best allocate those funds.

Jeff and I did spend a couple of hours checking on all of our immediate neighbors' homes (we have keys to everyone’s house). We switched off everyone’s main power breaker so there will be no power surge when electricity eventually gets restored.

Just a normal day in our apocalyptic neighborhood.

Other news: the first Duke Energy line workers arrived in Gerton 2 days ago. Their first job is to repair power on the main road so that the Fire Department has power.

The Fire Department also discovered that their septic system backed up (probably because so many community members have been relying on their bathrooms).

The good news is that portable toilets and showers also arrived 2 days ago, right on time. These will be so helpful to our community members without generators who are able to get to the Fire Station.