We lost power this last weekend. Fifty-five hours of dark, cold, quiet.. so quiet.
We had a party to go to on Sunday and I felt like my hair was greased to my head. I'd jumped into our hot tub trying to feel fresh. Yuck, it was luke warm. (Get over it, whiner! There are people in Japan who would give their I-teeth to have your suffering!)
You know what? The perspective helps, but, let's face facts, it can also make you feel worse that you feel crappy and shouldn't.
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| This is a photo of myself taken on Monday night. Randy hooked me up with an ineffective book light we'd purchased the night before. He finally clipped it to a baseball cap and stuck it on my head so I could read the last pages of the book I'd been reading: "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest". |
It was interesting; neighbors, that we had at best perfunctory conversations with before the storm, were suddenly like family. We shared our "wealth" with each other. They had the ability to charge my phone in their car, we had a pool, thus water for flushing toilets and bathing. We also had fire wood and gas in case one wanted to heat a kettle for coffee. They had a connection with someone at PG&E. They had a few bottles of wine or vodka.
I thought about my best friend, Celeste, who is so not like me. She plans for a month's back-packing along the Pacific Coast Trail as a leisure trip. She lives in a cabin with very little amenities.
Who would I go to if the going got rough? Her. She'd put me in perspective. She'd love it. Finally a world without the Internet or the comforts of heat warming us without having to haul wood or several blankets draping their weight upon our bodies.
I am spoiled rotten. I am used to the comforts of being a kid who grew up with mid-century advancements and I have known of nothing else.
I know we must be prepared for the very real possibility of not having power, but that doesn't mean we are powerless. Take the time to prepare for a life without electricity. Learn to live without it and to appreciate the amazing sound of nothing.
