Oddly enough, I sort of enjoyed being powerless for four days due to Ike's violent winds. I had inklings of sort of liking it while it was happening but those inklings were pushed to the back of my mind as more pressing issues, like constant sweating, ice searches, and low propane tanks preoccupied us. I knew I was secretly enjoying the fact that I could not cook, I could not grocery shop, I could not do laundry, I couldn't go anywhere because there was no where to go, and I could not stay up late because what's there to do in a dark house? My daytime options were to...ride my bike, sit on the back porch and read, do my Bible study homework, work on my Christmas ornaments that I have to make for an ornament exchange (which I normally do two nights before the party...), eat, visit with neighbors, go sit in my church's "Trinity Cafe" and check my e mail, do my laundry in the nursery's washer and dryers, have coffee served to me by Pastor Phil, heck, who can complain?? .... Night time options were to ....sit on dear friends' back porch and chat it up while grilling whatever we had to flop on the burners, all the while enjoying a lovely coolish breeze, grill hot dogs at a neighbors' whose family had left to visit a college son and he was there alone wanting company and conversation, sit by candlelight and listen to the radio (I'm not kidding, we were that grannyish, and loved it) , take a candlelight bubble bath...then crawl in bed and listen to our back neighbor's generator hum us to sleep, then sleep late because school is canceled, work is canceled, everything unfun is canceled. What's to complain about for cryin' out loud??? I loved seeing my neighbors outside leaning on rakes visiting and laughing. We were all unplugged and forced into old fashioned interactions. It was beautiful! It was fun while it lasted. Our power came back on about 8 last night and yes, we were thrilled to have light, but on the other hand...the secret me knew the real party was over.
5 comments:
Pop - I couldn't agree MORE! See my comment on SCL blog. We all went back to our dumb routines tonight and I really missed just focusing on the faces and the words of my beloved family and friends on the back porch. It was - in a weird way - such a gift of time, wasn't it?
Yes, a blessed unexpected gift which refocused my priorities. God is so sneaky! I love that about HIM.
I'm with you guys! We were only without power for 24 hours, and I kind of hated it because I was enjoying visiting with the neighbors. I've lived in this house for 10 years, and saw people outside who rarely ever step foot outside (or who are too busy at work to even be home!). It did make me realize that this must have been what it was like long ago...neighbors really getting to know each other and hanging out together (and helping each other). But the kids and I did let out a big "whoohoo!" when our power came back on. We do get used to that A/C and the cold drinks, don't we?! Glad you guys are doing fine.
Oh, Melanie...I finished my homework too! That's the way it goes...when we do all of it, Bible study is cancelled. :)
Hmm. In a way, I sort of prefer people in the at-arms-length, other-side-of-the-keyboard kind of way. Up close and personal is a little harder to deal with. Maybe I'm just not a "people" person.
As I ponder this a bit more, it occurs to me that this is not true for grandchildren. Up close and personal is just fine in that case. It's you clever adults I find threatening.
Popcorn, this ambivalent feeling towards electricity seems to be universal. I was reading Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and came across the following"
"One time, as a child, in a power failure, his mother had found and lit a last candle and there had been a brief hour of rediscovery, of such illumination that space lost its vast dimensions and grew comfortably around them, and they, mother and son, alone, transformed, hoping that the power might not come on again too soon . . ."
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