I am also writing to remind all of us how important it is to have good friends, and to thank my good friends, Yolanda, her husband, Pat; Hank and Karen; and Pastor Jeff Daly of Jesus Christ Fellowship in Middletown.
Right after Valentine’s Day this year, power went out up here on top of the mountain with two and a half feet of snow in my downhill backyard, and 3 feet of snow drifted up against my truck parked parallel to the road.
No power from PG&E for five days, no snow plow clearing the road for two and a half days, vehicles stuck on the road blocking passage of other vehicles and 40 degrees in my house!
I called the sheriff’s department for some kind of assistance and was told, “We don’t have those kinds of resources.”
When I asked if she could refer to me to other resources in the county which might help me out, the woman who had answered the telephone replied, “There are no such resources in the county.”
My good friend, Yolanda, took me to her house to take a hot shower. Her husband, Pat, brought me a gasoline generator. My son and I had lived off the grid in Upper Lake seven years and ran a gasoline generator, had one solar panel and propane to back up our wood stove for heat from a cozy heater, hot water, gas stove and refrigerator.
Shades of living outside of Chicago 10 years in the snow and cold, and Upper Lake came back to me as I pulled the cord to start the generator, having run out of gas.
I called my pastor, Jeff Daly, and he helped me reach good friends of mine in Jesus Christ Fellowship in Middletown. Hank brought me an electric skillet and the best homemade split pea and ham soup I have ever eaten!
Two weeks ago, I woke up about 3:30 a.m. and again had no power. I thought this time it might be a problem with my breaker box because my house was built in 1965, and since I’ve lived here over three years, I’ve had to replace two breakers.
However, on my way to church that Sunday morning, I stopped at Mountain High, our local coffee house, and they were running a generator again, so I knew most of the mountain was out of power again.
As the week went on and I was running out of wood, and my monitor heater would not work without power, I was reluctant to call PG&E because I knew once again they had their hands full.
The following Saturday morning my house was 46 degrees and I called PG&E. They answered my call immediately and within half an hour Jeremy Woodruff called me and said he was on his way.
And he added, “Next time, do not wait to call us!”
We both stood out in the cold rain while he worked on my breaker box and discovered the main disconnect had power coming in, but only partial power going out to the house.
While Jeremy was correcting this problem, I went down to get us both hot coffees. I was so thankful for having this wonderful young man come out to restore power so my heater would work once again!
Readers, thank God for your good friends, and thank God for wonderful, competent PG&E personnel if you ever have this kind of crisis in your own home. Boy, I do!
Melissa Bentley lives in Cobb, Calif.
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
