We recently went through a seriously
unpleasant sixteen-hour power outage. We spent the morning working in the
yard—no problem. But as the hours stretched out and the house got darker, I had
to make an effort to stay calm and OG almost went off the deep end. It got me
thinking about how much more dependent we are on our electric-powered devices
that we used to be.
Sixteen hours isn’t that long. Why was
it so difficult? The first year we were married, a massive spring ice storm
paralyzed the city and yanked the power line right off the back of our house.
It was cold and snowy, and we were without power for five days. I remember
having to sleep under a down comforter in a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up
and never being able to get warm. We still had hot water, so we could shower
before work, and I dried my hair in front of the gas fireplace. Our furry cat
was happy as a polar bear, but I was quite cranky. I can’t remember what we did
for food since we had an electric stove, but somehow we survived.
About fifteen years ago, we had major
summer storms two years in a row in Minnesota that knocked out power for
several days. The first time, we lost all the food in our fridge and lived out
of a Coleman cooler. After that, OG bought a generator. The second time, we
saved our food but had to deal with a crazy neighbor who couldn’t stand the
noise of the generator. We were without lights, television, and air
conditioning. However, it stays light until nearly ten o’clock in the summer in
Minnesota and the evenings are usually comfortable, so I don’t remember it
being too bad.
Fast forward to the present, and many
things have changed. The recent outage came at seven o’clock in the morning and
lasted until eleven that night. Because we now have the latest energy-saving,
on-demand hot water heater with an electronic start, we had no hot water, and
I’m much too old for cold showers. Besides, our lovely new gas fireplace is
all-electronic, too. There’s no way to manually turn on and light the gas, so I
couldn’t have dried my hair that way anyway. Our cordless phones didn’t work to
call the utility, and when I used my cell they just referred me to their
website for updates. Fortunately, we had a battery back-up for the modem and
router, so we had internet—but only for a few hours. For the rest of the day,
we relied on my cell phone and tablet. If they hadn’t been fully charged, we
would have been out of luck.
I was able to light the gas stove with
a match, but the microwave and oven were out of commission, so it was soup for
dinner. The situation got dicier as night set in. We sat in the pitch black
living room, huddled next to a pair of fluorescent Coleman lanterns. As a
retired gentleman, OG is much more dependent on television than I think
healthy, but it is what it is. Since this happened on a Sunday, there was no
football! He tried to read a little, but I think he spent most of the evening
sitting with his eyes closed, trying not to explode. I fared better. I read
more than half of Jannine’s Every Move
She Makes (excellent, by the way!), but it was exhausting in the dim light
with my old eyes. It was a very long evening. I have never been so relieved to
hear the beeps and flashes as our appliances came back to life a little after
eleven.
There are several reasons this outage
was so much more difficult for us. Previously, our daughter was still at home.
Children are distracting—they engage you; they have needs; they make noise.
This time it was just the two of us in the silent darkness that set in by dinner
time. Previously, we had hot water—you never know how much you miss hot water
until you don’t have it. But possibly most significant, it pointed out how much
we’ve come to rely on our gadgets to fill our time and attention.
Many people enjoy camping to get away
from the constant electronic hum of modern life, but for better or worse, OG
and I are not among them. Next time we lose power, I’m taking him to a hotel!
Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com
