Andover, MA

I was 10 at the time Carol blew in -- living in the country in Andover, Mass. in a new all-electric kitchen house.

The storm made the heavy plate glass picture windows in the living room rattle, but none broke and none of the trees surrounding the house sent any limbs into the house or through the windows.

About 5:30 pm, I was heating up some spaghetti and sauce when the electricity failed -- and was gone for about three weeks after that. I remember eating the food partially warmed as the electric cook top went dead. The phones still worked, but gasoline pumps at service stations didn't.

Ingenious operators used jury-rigged reel-type lawn mower engines to run gas pumps by connecting the mower's pulleys to the pumps. Keep in mind in those days they were mechanically operated.

It seemed as though much of the town was without power. But neighboring Lawrence fared somewhat better, and an ice making plant in South Lawrence did a thriving business.