It wasn’t just the television that we missed. My washing machine would not work without “light.” Not a happy thought with a toddler in terry cloth diapers being potty trained. Night came early in November and even earlier when there was “no light.” And there were the clothes and other items that we had stored in the garage under our flat, plus the stench from the mud and drowned livestock. Some of the baby clothes were irredeemable.
No refrigerator meant “to market to market” every day. Milk was the ultra-pasteurized in a box kind, which was better than nothing but did not taste like fresh milk. We were thankful for our propane gas cooker as we tried to create some kind of “new normal.” At least I could cook. I read books to Bethy, and she played with her dolls and dressed up in my cast-off clothes to entertain herself.
The back garden was one deep puddle of river mud. The grasshoppers were not impressed. One sunny day my friend Ana Maria and I opened the windows on the varandas to help dry out the humidity. When we opened the windows, a five-inch-long grasshoppers hopped in. It was some time before I stopped freaking out. The back varanda was, for a time, abandoned.
One morning I decided that while the refrigerator was empty, I could easily clean the inside of it. It was large for a the Portuguese appliance, but it was short enough that, at 5-feet 8-inches of height, I could look over the top of it. I got a sponge and a bowl of soapy water and opened the refrigerator. Then I stepped back. The air carried the reek of death. I had missed one small package of chicken livers, and they announced their presence rather strongly.
I always started dinner early so I could have enough natural light to cook. When Harry arrived at home after the sun set – around 7 p.m. – we ate. Since it was fully dark by that time, we rinsed the dishes and left them in the heavy-duty marble kitchen sink to wash in the morning. The ants, whose homes the flood disrupted, took a little longer to surface than the grasshoppers. I woke up four days into our adventure to a kitchen overrun by the displaced ants. Cleaning up the kitchen by candle light became our romantic evening activity.
We didn’t have to wait as long as Noah did for the flood to end; we had no electricity for only 12 days. I can sympathize with Mrs. Noah in the cleanup afterward though. Some of the things in the garage were salvageable. Thanks to the neighbor, we had our car. And we were not harmed (though we harmed a few ants and grasshoppers). Bethy’s last Christmas as an only child lay ahead, and 1984 would arrive just before her baby sister would arrive.
“So the floodwaters gradually receded from the earth.”
Wow….what a story. But it seemed you survived it with pluck and perseverance. All though I doubt the same could be said for the wayward 5 inch grasshopper. Beautifully entertaining, as always.
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Thank you, Kevin. 🙂 Grasshoppers. There was a multitude of the fellows.
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12 days! Wow. And you persevered. Now about Mr. Grasshopper. I bet he was edible!
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Only if it is chocolate covered, perfesser.
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Yucketh!
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Laughing. Eeet ees ze French custom.
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Is it? Ghastly.
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Hey, don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. Snails are pretty good, too.
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*continues to knock it* Yucketh!
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You don’t like escargot either?
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Do you???
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Yes, I do!
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*holds ears* I don’t believe you!
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Well, to begin with, they aren’t slimy after they are cooked.
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Like gushers?
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Probably not.
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Susie, we don’t know what we truly have until we go without it. What a nightmare! Good grief you are a strong woman! And I know that stench of death …. I forgot some chicken in our fridge, and that was with it running. The smell carried all throughout the kitchen and I could not find the source. When I did that little package went right out of the house and directly into the garbage well wrapped. PEEE UUUUUU!!!!! As with all your stories I really enjoyed this one too!! Thank you! Love, Amy
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Thank you, Amy. You are right: we don’t know what we have until we lose it. I appreciated Portugal more than I know how to say, but had no idea how very traumatic it would be to leave.
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Perhaps one day you shall return, Susie. I really think that is where your Heat is. (((HUGS))) Amy
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That is my hope and dear desire.
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I know. I pray you see it come true! You deserve it, Susan!!! (((HUGS))) Amy
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So glad to read the rest of the story! You guys were certainly adaptive, persevered, and did a great job of it! These experiences last one a lifetime. Really enjoy reading about them.
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Thank you, J. I would gladly go back again. Living there was a wonderful experience.
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“The grasshoppers were not impressed.” Gotta love this!
An obvious tragic situation written with elegance and grace. This could easily have been written as a Portugal Nightmare on Elm Street. 🙂
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I was content in Portugal. Not least because problematical family members were not there. It was by no means an easy passage, but it was better than it was when Harry first moved there in 1976. Due to the bloodless revolution to oust the Communists, all of the public utilities were on and off for some time. There was something good in that country that the US lost long, long years ago. We didn’t have much, but we cherished what we had.
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