![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
power outages
May. 8th, 2012 09:00 amI was at the computer in the middle of my evening blogging rounds and news harvesting, when a little after nine o’clock, the power in the house suddenly snapped off, catching me completely off guard, knocking me back in my chair like I was smacked in the face by a sucker punch. I was in mid-sentence of writing an involved personal journal entry, sort of in literary mode, focused and in high concentration, at least by Monk Standards.
It was only when I started feeling my way to my room to get my flashlight, in the silence-stricken house, that I could hear that the weather was doing a number over us, with high winds batting against the trees and houses.
The cats! All three were outside. But I had to get my flashlight first. Which was proving to be a challenge, as I knocked my head against my chair next to my mattress, as I am feeling for the flashlight, anxious and in a hurry to get to the patio. “Great, this is how I lose an eye! Because I have so many eyes to spare.”
The cats were not waiting to rush inside. Which scared me. Maybe I took too long to get to the door, and the cats gave up on me and sought safe haven elsewhere. They could be lost for the duration of the storm, and it was promising to be a doozy. Since it was not raining, I was worried that a tornado might be touching down. This was not the time for the cats to be wandering around outside. However, all three cats were inside within fifteen minutes, with Sammy being the last one to give up. The start of the rain and the crack of the thunder must have convinced him.
The evening then turned into a pleasant, cozy affair. As it became evident that the power interruption was more than a mere hiccup and could be gone for some time, I broke out my candles, and Pop remembered that he had bought quite a few more of them, and he found them stashed away in the china cabinet. Luxurious, scented candles set in their heavy glass jars. We had one set up in practically every room. Our flashlights became superfluous. The lovely dim lighting made me think again, as it always does, how it would be nice to make this a habit, rather than only using the candles during power outages.
I then remembered that the Kindle should work and I could read. However, both the light from the candle and my flashlight was not bright enough to make reading the back-lit Kindle very comfortable, and I decided not to strain my eyes. Pop, on the other hand, came up with a better idea, better for him at least. He played his boom-box. Country & Western music blaring through the house. So much for a quiet, reflective evening in candlelight. Maybe I should have grabbed the laptop and watched a DVD, but I really wasn’t in the mood. Too bad I didn’t have a “Chuck” episode to go through.
One clear benefit from the storm, aside from making the drought seem like ancient history, is that it feels a little wintry today, so wonderfully cool and overcast, a touch chilly even. The power came on at around two or three in the morning. I was asleep, or at least dozing. With regard to the candles, I was disappointed to learn that the scent actually becomes a little sickly after a few hours. In any case, these lengthy outages do not occur often, maybe once or possibly twice a year, thank god.
It was only when I started feeling my way to my room to get my flashlight, in the silence-stricken house, that I could hear that the weather was doing a number over us, with high winds batting against the trees and houses.
The cats! All three were outside. But I had to get my flashlight first. Which was proving to be a challenge, as I knocked my head against my chair next to my mattress, as I am feeling for the flashlight, anxious and in a hurry to get to the patio. “Great, this is how I lose an eye! Because I have so many eyes to spare.”
The cats were not waiting to rush inside. Which scared me. Maybe I took too long to get to the door, and the cats gave up on me and sought safe haven elsewhere. They could be lost for the duration of the storm, and it was promising to be a doozy. Since it was not raining, I was worried that a tornado might be touching down. This was not the time for the cats to be wandering around outside. However, all three cats were inside within fifteen minutes, with Sammy being the last one to give up. The start of the rain and the crack of the thunder must have convinced him.
The evening then turned into a pleasant, cozy affair. As it became evident that the power interruption was more than a mere hiccup and could be gone for some time, I broke out my candles, and Pop remembered that he had bought quite a few more of them, and he found them stashed away in the china cabinet. Luxurious, scented candles set in their heavy glass jars. We had one set up in practically every room. Our flashlights became superfluous. The lovely dim lighting made me think again, as it always does, how it would be nice to make this a habit, rather than only using the candles during power outages.
I then remembered that the Kindle should work and I could read. However, both the light from the candle and my flashlight was not bright enough to make reading the back-lit Kindle very comfortable, and I decided not to strain my eyes. Pop, on the other hand, came up with a better idea, better for him at least. He played his boom-box. Country & Western music blaring through the house. So much for a quiet, reflective evening in candlelight. Maybe I should have grabbed the laptop and watched a DVD, but I really wasn’t in the mood. Too bad I didn’t have a “Chuck” episode to go through.
One clear benefit from the storm, aside from making the drought seem like ancient history, is that it feels a little wintry today, so wonderfully cool and overcast, a touch chilly even. The power came on at around two or three in the morning. I was asleep, or at least dozing. With regard to the candles, I was disappointed to learn that the scent actually becomes a little sickly after a few hours. In any case, these lengthy outages do not occur often, maybe once or possibly twice a year, thank god.
