When the ice storm that struck at the end of January left us without power and water, we spent the first night at Neighbor’s house, sleeping on the floor of the den beside a small kerosene heater. Realizing the next morning that the power could be out for days and that the few gallons of kerosene on hand weren’t going to keep any of us warm for long, Honey and I quickly headed for one of the only gas stations that were open in the area – where we sat in line for three hours before learning that any available kerosene was long gone.

Upon our arrival back at home, we were contacted by some friends who invited us to come stay in their heated home for as long as necessary. Feeling responsible for Neighbor and her son, we graciously declined. When our friends said we could bring the neighbors along, we considered our options – stay put and freeze to death or load up everyone and drive somewhere comfortable. Of course, we chose the later.

After getting an excellent night’s sleep in a warm environment, Honey and I once again set out to find kerosene. We followed every rumor of available fuel, driving miles and miles in every direction, only to be disappointed every time. After hearing that one of the other house guests had a friend with gallons of stored kerosene that was available for sale, we quickly drove the 20+ miles and bought 15 gallons. We figured this would get us and the neighbors through the remainder of the power outage, since we could all huddle together in their den and use the fuel as sparingly as possible.

Once we informed the neighbors of our “find,” they immediately began planning on borrowing an additional heater so that they could heat their entire home. We were dismayed, since no thought was given to the fact that our own home needed heat and was quite susceptible to frozen plumbing and costly repairs. We felt like the neighbors were being extremely ungrateful for not only our struggle to find the fuel, but our refusal to leave them behind while we sought warm shelter. We returned home a couple of days later and stayed put in our frigid home while they added the additional heater and kept their house over 70 degrees.

Regardless of our feelings about the matter, we continued helping them in any way possible over the next few months. We cut and removed downed trees from their yard, we cleared and burned countless fallen limbs, we raked. Not a penny was offered, even though we wouldn’t have accepted it anyway. It still bothered us to see her arrest-prone nephew come over a few days later to rake out her flower beds, knowing that he was getting paid for work that he should have been doing for free. We slowly began to feel like we were being taken advantage of.

A couple of weeks ago, when Neighbor called to tell me that they were cutting down the lovely, large maple tree that grows between our homes (the trunk was just on their side of the property line), I expressed my sorrow – hoping she might return one of our many favors with one of her own. No such luck. So, we braced ourselves for the removal of the only tree that provided shade for our back patio, and arrived home from church the next Sunday afternoon to see that it was gone.

I sulked for a few days before deciding that it was just a tree, after all, so I might as well let it go. Then Neighbor’s son called me at work a few days later to inform me that someone was at their house to grind up the stump. He suggested that I have some of the stumps in my yard ground up at the same time, which I thought was a little forward. I was also beginning to think that this guy was getting on my last nerve. I told him it would have to wait.

Then, the very next day, I’m at work and my cell phone rings. Neighbor’s son again. “Did you reconnect the cable that runs behind our house?” The cable he was referring to had been downed during the ice storm, and he had simply tossed it onto the empty lot behind his property. No, I answered, before he wanted to know if I had seen the culprit responsible. I assured him that the cable company had probably reconnected it, which didn’t really seem to satisfy him.

So, yeah, they are driving me crazy. Or crazier.

Related posts:

1. We Survived
2. Eight Days
3. Powerless