Midwest windstorm & other debris

A week and a half ago, or so, we had a windstorm by the name of Ike roll through here like an uninvited relative crashing on your couch. For seven hours the wind whipped like it was gonna tear the roof off of the sucker, bending trees and blowing all manner of debris all over Indiana, Kentucky and my little slice of heaven here in Ohio. Shingles were flying and trees were toppling and the kids were afraid. Really afraid. I have always liked storms and thunder and rain and impending tornadoes. So I took them outside and showed them that there was really nothing to fear as long as you were aware of your surroundings and didn't do anything stupid, like crawling on your roof to inspect the damage while the wind is blowing 78 miles per hour. Right about that time a huge tree fell about a block away. I though it was pretty cool. The kids...not so much.
None of this bothered me until the electricity went out around 2:30. You see this was a Sunday and after we get home from church I settle in for a day of football on T.V. and watching my fantasy football scores on the computer. The lights flickered a couple of time and I had to reboot the computer 3 times but I never expected this tragedy to rain down on me. So after the realization that the football was done for the day I did what any sane man would do. I drove around looking for a hotwing joint with HD T.V.'s and electricity. I found none. It seems that the closest television that worked was just north of Nashville and I wasn't about to drive that far just to watch football. Well... I would've had the wife let me and we had a full tank of gas, but I really needed to stay with my family in this time of need.
So it starts getting dark and the wind dies down and I cannot find a "C" cell battery to save my life. I mean we really needed to listen to the radio for weather information and possibly some football scores, but mostly weather info. I made an adventure out of the night and we all slept in the downstairs den ( until my back and neck started hurting-I went upstairs to sleep in bliss ) with candles in the fireplace and all around the kitchen. We played UNO Attack and Go- Fish and told stories until the little ones fell asleep.
Well that is the end of day 1 of the "Big Wind" story and I will return with part two of the story when football is over. As I type this U.S.C. is getting their hat handed to them. You didn't know this would be the first installment in the MY BORING LIFE series.
Break like the wind,
SF