Last week it was said that Dallas became a war zone, if weapons of mass destruction were tree limbs, power outages, and Internet deserts.

You can see the paths of destruction in huge piles of tree branches and often entire trees. The other physical evidence is in the bags of refrigerated food in trash cans all over town.

Speaking of my own personal Armageddon, I lost power for four days, that’s a record for my house, and I can tell you, it wasn’t fun.

There are several problems when you are a member of The Worst Club Ever and you lose power AND Internet.

1. There’s no one to sit in the bathroom/closet/hallway with until the sirens quit going off.
2. There’s no one to help look for candles or the natural disaster bag you keep for these sorts of things.
3. There’s no one stronger than you to light the stupid fireplace lighter which was clearly designed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. So you just WILL the candles to light.
4. There’s no one to help formulate a plan. Should we go? Should we stay? When will it come back on? Will it ever come back on? Nope, you are on your own, missy, so get used to it.
5. Yes, I have umpteen children who were desperately trying to reach me. But no Internet, no phone, no texting, and no smoke signals (all the wood, though plentiful, was wet and see #3 about the lighter thing.) Plus their cars are trapped in garages. I have a carport.
6. It is dark in my house, even when the storm broke and the sun returned, my house was still dark, cool, shady. Good for sleeping, but I couldn’t read or do crosswords without a flashlight propped on my shoulder.
7. No one to talk to to pass the time. It was very quiet in my house. Cool, dark, quiet. I was about to go insane after 3 hours.

So I got in my car and drove and drove and drove, through the Apocalyptic neighborhoods, highways and byways, until I found lights at a shopping center with some fast food and Internet signal. I was able to get lunch and text some friends and family. Sort of. Texts went through intermittently, even there, but I could at least to get some messages in and out. Still no phone.

Things were complicated by worrying about my kids. Sarah was okay, but Traci and Molly both lost power. Adam and Corey were flying in from vacation and got delayed about 6 hours. When they got home their power was back on, but elevators were out, and they had to climb 25 flights with luggage and the fattest cats on the planet.

And the evening and the morning were Tuesday.

Wednesday dawned cool, dark and quiet. Traci, Molly and I still had no power. But we had rudimentary Internet; we could call and text if we used SMS. What a blessing. Molly’s family went to stay with family up north (Richardson.) Traci and Noah were trapped at her house because of their dogs. I could at least take a hot shower, due to a gas water heater.

My friend TJ Janet and I had made plans for dinner, so we confirmed that we still wanted to do that since she was in the dark also. I picked her up and we found a lovely pizza place to while away a couple of hours.

And the evening and the morning were Wednesday.

Still no power for me, Molly or Traci on Thursday morning. I took my sister up on her offer to stay there (also up north of Richardson and where they have buried their power lines. DUH!) So I invaded her space while she went to work and spent the day with her bichon frise Ellie on my lap, three cups of coffee, and lots of binging cozy British murder mysteries. That night we went to dinner with her work crew. I felt nearly human.

And the evening and the morning were Thursday.

Friday morning I went by my house to check on it. Still no power. Although Molly and Traci both had theirs restored. I was optimistic when Molly spotted service trucks on my street. I met some friends for lunch and when I went back to the house, the power was on. Hallelujah!

The scorecard for my house:

1. Some tiny branches down, one long dangling branch, some small broken trees on the side yard. I’m thinking of buying a chain saw. Do they make them kind of small for a woman who clearly isn’t very strong?
2. Several hundred dollars worth of lost food. I went to the grocery store today to restock.

Some things to remember for next time:

1. Recharge my external power supply. This thing is a game-changer and every home should have one. My sweet friend Martha gave me mine and I am forever grateful.
2. Buy a new fireplace lighter and some substantial candles instead of the cute, puny scented ones. The house was barely lit and smells like a brothel. I guess. I’ve never been in a brothel.
3. Actually, buy matches.

Some things to be grateful for:

1. Coffee. That was one of the worst things. No coffee and none to be had anywhere for miles.
2. Light. The darkness was the hardest thing for me. I love light.
3. Friends. People who check on you and share what they have.
4. Conversation. No communication was difficult for someone who values people and words. At the same time.
5. Family. Honestly, I am one of the luckiest people in the world to have family close by who cares about me, checks on me, helps me, loves me. I wish one of them would come live with me to open a jar of pickles or light that stupid lighter thing.

I know there are people who still don’t have power, people who struggle in the dark every day, who never have air conditioning or a hot shower, who have no one to call or to check on them. I do not take these things for granted. I make light of my own situation, but never anyone’s else’s. Shared misery is misery halved.

I hope you are all safe and sound.