I feel like I've just woken up from a very foggy dream. My eyes have opened to a brightness I'm not familiar with. I can see the dirt qute a bit easier, I can see the dog hair far too easily, and the mountains I thought my house had grown are really just piles of laundry that for reasons completely out of my control had grown to enormous proportions. Yes, we finally were blessed by the presence of the electric company work truck to remove the large tree from the power lines, replacing three poles and restringing gads of wire to restore power to our little community. It has silenced the neighborhood...no more gas powered generators roaring from the neighbors 24 hours a day. Oh the silence of the country once again. I hardly know I have neighbors...UNLESS the power goes out!
There is a sort of mourning though as I wake to the brightness. I shall miss the simplicity that I learned to live with. No distractions from the TV or computer. The house was quiet, except for the children actually using their wild imaginations to entertain themselves in the dusk of the evening. It was amazing to watch them play, all together, for hours on end; sword fighting, princess rescueing and dragon flying! The glow of the candlelight was really quite lovely and welcoming.
Lessons I learned:
The email kept coming even though I couldn't check it everyday. The world kept spinning even though I couldn't watch the news to see that it was still there. And someone earned a million dollars, even though I wasn't there to watch it. (DON'T TELL ME!!!!!!) I can cook and heat water on the woodstove quite easily. I can bathe efficiently with a 24 qt. stockpot filled with hot water (heated on the woodstove) set in the shower. I can "sweep" dirt and crumbs off carpet with fantastic results. And a chest freezer that is stored outside on the back porch will stay frozen for 5+ days without trouble (in the winter). A chest freezer not plugged in will keep refrigerator items at the right temperature without freezing them nor warming them, if left on the back porch in the cold air. Candlelight is far superior to battery powered lanterns. Children can be sufficiently entertained without any kind of electric powered media or toys!!!
I'm tempted to flip the main breaker once a month!!
3 comments:
There was this brief moment on Sunday morning when I thought the power was back on (it came on later that day) where I had a surreal amount of glee.
I'm glad you guys are ok.
I love it, Sue! Wonder how the other grandkids living here in MN in the city would fare!!!! I tend to think - not so well!
Nothing like a good power outage to help remind us what's real, what's important, and separate the convenient/comfortable from the critical.
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