Power Hungry
My home has now been without electric power for five days.
We have some power, as we have a good size generator, so we are been better off than some folk. The generator powers the heat, hot water, refrigerator, and a few lights – and what is most important – the well. Not being able to flush is an unfortunate experience. So hurray for the generator (and my husband who installed the monstrosity.)
I miss:
- The light over the stove (we have a gas stove, but it’s hard to see what you’re cooking)
- The garage door opener
- “Dancing With The Stars” (my guilty pleasure)
But there are some things I like about this prolonged outage.
MY TOP TEN NO-POWER PLEASURES:
10.
The wood stove. I hate our oil bill, so we never have the heat on very high. With the wood stove, it gets up to around 80 in the office. Toasty.
9.
Cuddly pets. Our cats are always snuggled up with my husband. When we shut down the generator at night, and the house gets cool, the kitties will even cuddle with cold-blooded me.
8.
Dinner by oil lamp. The food looks more appetizing by the soft flickering light. So do I.
7.
The quiet.
6.
A new use to justify the expense of my iPhone. Alarm clock app.
5.
No Housework. Not only can’t I vacuum, but you can’t really see the cat hair either.
4.
Stars. With no ground lights, the night sky is amazing.
3.
The bathroom outlet. We don’t have the generator hooked up to many outlets, but my husband did make sure I have a working outlet for my hairdryer. I can tolerate many hardships, but not bad hair.
2.
My Mother. She had no power either, so she spent the last three days with us. I loved seeing her every morning at the breakfast table, and saying goodnight to her at the end of the day.
1.
No Kardashians!
- Posted in: Home ♦ Humor ♦ Memories
- Tagged: Energy, home, Humor, iPhone, Storm Damage, Wood-burning stove
notquiteold 
Aw, your #2 reason made me smile – big time! So wish I still had my mom. I love what you wrote about being with yours…. (Give her a hug for me!)
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I’ve been thinking about you over the last few days. The US has been hit by some terrible weather “events” over the last few years. My sister has a home in Vermont and their covered bridge was washed out in the floods a couple of months ago. Glad to hear you have a generator and that you are able to flush. That’s a hardship I wouldn’t like to experience.
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Excellent post and great you were able to do this with such minimal electricity.
Loved the list too. And your number one was FABULOUS! I detest all those “fake” reality shows!
Keep warm…..and enjoy all your snuggles!
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#1 would truly make it all worthwhile for me!
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Fabulous! I’m sorry you’re without some of your power, but I’m loving the fact that you’re meeting your hardships with such a great sense of humor. And now I think it’s time for me to come clean about something. I, too, am a rabid Dancing with the Stars fan. And can’t stand the Kardashians. I’m with ya! Hope you’re POWERFUL again very soon!
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” The food looks more appetizing by the soft flickering light. So do I.”
snicker-snicker … U R a funny gurl.
What took out your power?
DS
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Bad October snowstorm in the Northeast. Took out trees and power lines.
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Nothing like looking on the positive side. We had no heat for three days. That was BAD but at least the wood fireplace heated one room. Couldn’t sleep for long at night because had to keep feeding it. Had to borrow wood from the neighbours before the furnace repair people finally showed up. Lots of other people were in the same boat.
Yeah, we all need a much needed vacation from the Kardashians.
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Whenever the power goes out, I find that I still try to flip the switch to turn on the lights…..over and over, no matter how many times it doesn’t turn on. Habits die hard.
Glad you can see the stars-and the bright side of things. It makes for good memories.
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You know, when it gets cold at night, you could probably convince your sweetie to warm you back up. Everyone needs to work together in these inconvenient times.
I hope the wires are live again soon. I don’t know what I’d do without power, other than cook all my meals out back on the bbq.
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I can realte to this, BIG time, I to have a well, and I Hate having to get water out of the pond to flush! Have talked about a generator….but the only thing I really miss is the power to flush! Great post thank you for giving me smiles!
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Yes, number one! How amazing that you can see the positive during this time. We had no heat or electricity for a little over 2 weeks back during the Ice Storm of ’98 and it was a trying time to say the least. I missed taking a shower and making my coffee the most. It’s the simple things you truly appreciate!
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Love #2 first and #1 second…all the others paint a picture of how you are graciously, thoughtfully and with humor doing without. So sorry you are going in to your fifth day w/out power and it’s so cold, even down here.
We have a generator but haven’t had to use it since Ike in 2008. The generator kept my cricut running so daughter #2 and I could crank out favor boxes for her wedding.
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We’re w/o power also– saw a truck from Ohio drive by. Maybe today.
I like lighting candles at night. We have a gas fire place that is one now 24/7- imagine the gas bill will compensate for the electric loss. And next purchase- a generator- I tossed all the contents of the freezer; fridge still to do. I’ve been taking advantage of generous offers of friends to hang out, plug in, get warm.
Hope you get it back soon.
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Take care and stay warm. Enjoy the candlelight.
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We had an ice storm back in 1998 that took out power for several days. I remember the startling silence as one of the most wonderful surprises. I missed it when the power came back on and the steady hum of the refrigerator populated my world again.
Great post!
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I admire your ability to even think to do a blessing list. After 5 days with no power I can’t say I’d be able to do the same. I’d probably be thinking of the top 10 ways to get to the airport to get on a flight to anywhere!
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What a positive spin! You made me miss my mom!
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Yes – I noticed the stars one night when I went on the porch to retrieve something. I stood in the front yard and enjoyed it. Usually from the front of the house the streetlight ruins it. I stood there for a long time. On Thursday, when progress seemed to be going backwards, I began a new book by candlelight. Wonder if I’ll continue reading it now . 😦 Um.. does DS watch the News?
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Also good to have no-scent candles around. Each of my “big” candles emits a different scent. It began to get a little weird.
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Hope you are with total electricity by now—if you really want it. #8 is hysterical. But would be true in my case also!!! 🙂
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Not yet.
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Ah, toasty from wood stove. The simple pleasures.
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It personalizes the news to know you are out there. When this happened to us a couple of years ago we escaped to a hotel for a few nights. I wish that were feasible for 3 million people, but… I sympathize. And I’m happy that you are still available to entertain me.
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Oh man, you lost power for a long time, too! (We just got ours back. 7 days. And we could only power the fridge with our dinky generator, so, yeah, the flushing thing is by far the WORST part.) I totally agree about the cuddly pets and the beauty of ‘disconnecting’ for a while, though 🙂
I didn’t know Dancing with the Stars was your guilty pleasure! That’s a good one.
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PS – Power was restored at 1:20 this morning, after 6 days, four hours and 10 minutes. But I still have friends in the cold and dark.
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I’ll add one from my list. No sports practices for my children since the schools/courts/pools are all closed. So no driving marathons every afternoon!!
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Makes me long for the olden days — and my Mom. Thanks for sharing your warm thoughts, as always.
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