It's Electric!

Karmically, we were due for a power outage. The remnants of Hurricane Ike whipped through here last year, and our power barely blipped. Especially "barely" in light of the fact that lots of Ohioans didn't have power for a week or more. Several ice storms and heavy snows this winter put the lights out in some places, but again, not even a dimming of the lights over here. So, when the heavy winds came through this week, it was kind of our turn.

Unfortunately, it is, of course, not the kind of turn you want - not like being next in line for an amusement ride. The power went out sometime after we went to bed Wednesday night, and naturally, this meant that I had a web conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Hooray for the community room at Panera! I ruthlessly (okay, not really) kicked a bunch of people studying some cardiology stuff out, recharged my cellphone and gabbed away with no problems, aside from the occasional advertisement for Panera because I was getting timed out and having to go back to their main page to get logged in again.

Then I spent the afternoon expending enough energy and money that I felt certain the power would come on again. (You know that old rule: if you want something to happen, make it as inconvenient as possible, and it will. Need 5 seconds at a stoplight to find your lip balm in your purse? Guaranteed green lights all the way to work.) Anyway, I remembered that our uninitiated gas grill had a burner on the side, so I lugged home a propane tank ($50). After work, we unearthed the grill in the barn, drug it around to the back deck, and fired it up. Fortunately, I'd made a pot of chili this week. Then, I found a paint bucket and an old five-gallon bucket, so we managed to pull enough water up out of the cistern to rinse dishes and flush the toilet. We also unpacked all of the freezer and refrigerator into a big Rubbermaid tub and iced it down. A positive there - we got the fridge cleaned out!

After a candlelight dinner (chili and a Mistletoe-scented Yankee Candle Co. candle aren't, perhaps, the most palatable of scent combinations) and a run out for ice and some hot cocoa, we headed up to bed. The cats filled in the little nooks and crannies around us like chinking between logs. I wore the work light on my head, so Andrew could read to me, and then I rolled up in a little ball and slept like a log. An occasionally chilly log, but a log nonetheless.

As I was paddling around in my thoughts while waiting for sleep, I was thinking about Fannie Flagg's character, Aunt Elner. You just have to love Aunt Elner, and one of my favorite things about her is her intense appreciation, an appreciation that only an old farm wife could have, for electricity. Thomas Edison is one of her favorite people, and every year, on his birthday, she turns on all the appliances in her house at the same time to celebrate. I thought to myself that I might just have to do that next year.

So, we woke up to power this morning. The electricity not only was cooperative enough to come back on, but considerate enough to do it enough before we woke up, allowing the water heater to generate hot water for showers. While Andrew showered and fed cats, I cleaned out the pellet stove and fired it up, and then he made breakfast while I showered. It's already almost 55 degrees in here, and after I settled on the couch with the heated mattress pad and a quilt, I remembered Thomas Edison, and thought I'd just see when his birthday was so I could be prepared. According to Wikipedia, it's February 11 - the day before our electricity went off. Perhaps he was peeved by our lack of appreciation. I've made a mental note to do better next year....