There’s nothing like a big snow and good old power outage to put things in perspective.
I’ve been shocked (physically) by the ultra low temperatures and have thanked God that I do not live one degree more latitude or longitude than eastern KY. The thought of wintering in Minnesota or Wisconsin gives me chills to the bone.
I admit that everything looks lovely covered in white. At first the dusting of snow made me think of powdered sugar.
The frozen trees were lovely to look at but reeked havoc on the power lines. One by one they began to fall ending service to hundreds and then thousands. One tree fell right in front of my car as I waited for firefighters and power company workers to clear the road. Power lines, cable and phone lines were so mangled they looked like spaghetti.
The first night without power was almost fun. Our kids were safely and warmly tucked away at college-we thought, leaving my husband and me to fend for ourselves. After the road was cleared we went out to eat-for a hot meal. When we tried to return home we found that more trees had fallen on the power lines and it would be at least an hour and a half to get through. We called a friend (one of our deacons) who had electricity. He and his wife welcomed us in. After a short warm stay, we were home and in bed by 8:30. We snuggled and giggled like we did when we were newlyweds and the gas lines were frozen. There were so many quilts on the bed I was sore the next morning from just turning over.
Our gas logs had been on the fritz and were not working-of all things. My beloved and another man from church got them fixed on the second day without electricity. We went to his house and showered. His wife had prepared a delicious hot meal. (A friend in need truly is a friend indeed!) Back at home, we brought every blanket, quilt and comforter to within a few feet of the delicious warmth from the fireplace. It looked like we were playing “Princess and the Pea”. My husband has never heard the tale so I laughed to myself.
The lights came back on in the middle of the night. I have to tell you that I had a hard time going back to sleep. I was so very thankful!
The power outage was a quick wake up call for me. I’ll admit now that I am completely and utterly spoiled. I hadn’t realized just how so until the plug was pulled on my normal life.
Our electricity was only off for two days, but it helped me be thankful for things I’ve had the other 363 days of the year. I had taken it for granted that lights would come on at the flip of a switch. Being able to cook in our own kitchen was a given. I had assumed that my gourmet coffee would be prepared in my gourmet coffee maker every morning. My list could go on and on.
Our daughter was without electricity in Richmond for almost a week, first staying at her apartment in the cold, then with a friend’s family, one of my sisters and eventually at a hotel in Winchester. She came home after five days: no clean underwear. I’m now more thankful for clean underwear, too.
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