Or:
You Don’t Know What You Got, ‘Til it’s gone…..
Two days without power and it’s hard not to wax poetic about the subject:
O heat-
how you deliver,
my gooseflesh from shiver,
O light-
how you vanquish,
the demons of night…….
A storm of fantastic proportions whipped through our county Sunday and Monday with sustained winds of over 50 mph and gusts upwards of 80 mph (you can read more about it here). We rarely lose power at our house for more than a couple hours at a time, but we’ve been without since around 8:30 AM yesterday. Luckily, our only household casualty was a couple of fence panels which will be a royal pain in the ass to fix, but overall isn’t really so bad considering our neighbors have lost big panels from each of their roofs.
So yesterday was spent curled up on the couch reading with the poopies to keep me company. Not so bad until the sun winks out at 4PM. Then you realize just how cold and dark a November night can be and those creepy stories you read all day conspire to create monsters out of the flickering shadows.
But I have our recent power outage to thank for some highly under appreciated experiences I had yesterday…….
- Showering by candlelight. Nothing takes the edge off of your jiggly bits like good old fashioned candlelight. Definitely try this one at home kids.
- No TV, computer or electrical whatnot. Just good old-fashioned brainpower to entertain you. I read 2.5 books in the space of probably 18 hours. Nothing beats a brain binge!
- Guilt free relaxation. I am pretty much never without anxiety over something I did or did not do. But without appliances, you can’t exactly feel guilty for not doing housework. Or exercising.
- Curling up with your pets. Our Jack Russell, Nelson, rarely sits still long enough for you to trick him into cuddling. But yesterday he was as content as could be to lay by my side and steal some of my warmth. Kinda makes up for the trouble he causes the rest of the 99.9% of the time.
- Cooking a grilled cheese sandwich while wearing a head lamp. Accident waiting to happen? Maybe. Fun? Definitely!
- Not looking in the mirror for an entire day. No criticism, no makeup, no judgment. Everyone needs a day like this.
- Going to bed early with your husband curled up under a down comforter. ‘Nuff said ;)
As I’m blogging this from work, I’m wondering if I’ll have power when I get home. Maybe, maybe not. But I do know one thing. I’ve missed all of you and hope that you’ve all been well. Though I’m MIA now, I’ll catch up with all of you soon I hope. Until then, give the showering by candlelight a try. You may never go back.
I have no idea what I would do without power. No lights, well I can live with that since I like the darkness. But no cable or internet? I guess I’d have to get by with my iPod and my knitting! I could deal with that. I guess I’d just need battery operated kitched appliances cause I have to cook! :)
Hope you have power when you get home!
I always love it when the power goes out. It is as if the world stops in a way, and time is forcing us to step back to older times by way of no computers, etc. It makes us actually throw all concentration on the other person and there are no distractions. I actually lived without power for 6 months one summer, when I was living in a house with 5 other people. It was a lot of fun!
But when I am in a place that loses power, it is usually work. With no lights, I have to rush around to make sure important things are plugged into red outlets and that everyone is okay!
I’m so sorry babe that you were without electricity for such a long time! We used to have that quite often in Poland, but since I moved here no power cuts whatsoever (but it would be a disaster since here everything runs on electricity). BUt candle light is my favourite, I must admit. I bet that afterall it was a very romantic and cosy weekend and surely your puppies were more than happy to have you for themselves. NO worries about lack of emails or anything. I am happy that you are safe and kept yourself warm! It’s a pity that we don’t live closer we could have candle light knitting ;)
Wow, what an adventure!! Glad that your house wasn’t too damaged and that you’re enjoying life back in the 19th century;)
A very optimistic way to deal with a power cut. I salute you! Here in Spain, we suffered some severe storms recently, and in addition to the loss of power, we were also at the mercy of irony. That is to say, after being deluged with more rain in 24 hours than we had seen the whole year, our water supply cut off!
Thanks for the tips! When the electricity fails us, we find out just how resourceful we really are. Sounds like you guys had a great time despite no modern conveniences! I hear their overrated anyway! LOL
I’m glad that you both are safe and that no real damages were incurred. Sounds like it has been an adventure. Thanks for the tips. We sometimes loose power during tropical storms and I will remember these.
Keep us posted!
As children my sister & I would consider stormy late-night power outages some exciting adventure. Since then, I’ve unlearned how to appreciate them! You really made the best of it. And maybe in some ways it was better than having electricity!