I love reading historical fiction books, and the scenes that describe the characters sitting around a fireplace in the evenings quietly sewing and visiting always sound so cozy. It makes me want to go back in time and join them.
Well, I kind of did that this week and the reality was far different.
During our recent storms, we lost power six different times. And, guess what? It wasn’t cozy and it wasn’t fun.
Oh, sure, at first it’s novel and kind of exciting, but the novelty soon wears off and I ended up spending a lot of time in the dark being bored and angry.
It did teach me a lot though. It showed me that my automatic go-to’s are all about electricity.
I’d think about a nice, hot cup of tea and head for the stove before I remembered it’s electric. I’d be hungry and head for the fridge before remembering you’re supposed to leave it closed during a power outage. I’d grab the TV remote before it hit me that it’s electric too. In fact, our internet, cell service and even our landlines run on electricity (which didn’t stop me from picking up my cell phone a million times before remembering I couldn’t use it).
It was a weird feeling being cut off from the world like that. I felt like a pioneer. A crabby one.
We did have hot water for showers (a vast improvement from the pioneer days) but no hair dryer or curling iron.
We had no lights, no heat, no food and no coffee!
But, here are some of the things the power outages taught me:
- I am relying on my cell phone for entertainment way too much.
- TV should be a last resort instead of a tool for boredom.
- I need to appreciate heat, lights, food and hot coffee way more than I do.
- All those scented candles I’ve bought over the years really were a good investment.
- Reading the Bible takes no electricity, I should do it more often. By candlelight if necessary.
- Without styling tools, my hair looks like rats chewed on it.
- I am a wimp and I would not make a good pioneer.
What about you? How do you deal with power outages?
Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
