Having just spent a day and a half without the luxury of power, I had nothing better to do than write and will now subject you to my cold-addled lonely ruminations through the course of the day.
***
Warm days. A blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds as the sun ducks behind one and peaks out from another. The chirping of Chickadees in the hedge fills the summery breeze as it ruffles the leaves on the trees. I sit on my kitchen counter, staring out my window, and WISH this was the day I’m having.
Instead, here I sit on my counter using the window for light to write by. Freezing rain knocked the power out the night before and I’m left using the stove to get a bit of heat in our house that has become a meat locker. The cats seem to have had an emergency meeting and have decided to fill the silence with all the noise they can make. At this point our neighbors, I’m sure, think they live next door to a herd of wildebeest. I’m not sure they’re wrong.
The freezing rain has stopped finally, replaced with driving snow in a blustery wind and I wonder if my fingers and toes will ever thaw again. Worse, I’ve discovered finally a reason NOT to bundle cable, internet and phone services. The damn router box only has a six hour battery. Once it dies, so too does the phone.
My husband had an argument with the ice this morning trying to reach a pay phone to call work. He lost. He’ll be nursing a sprained wrist and bruised ego for a while. The bruised ego on account of last night he laughed when I returned from the store and said how hard it was to walk on the ice. He very surely informed me that HE has no problem walking on the ice. I will, of course, file this incident away for future use as any good wife should.
So far today I’ve gone through most of the score of Pirates of Penzance. The cats appreciate my singing or maybe the cuddles were to distract me? Nawwww. I’ve been reduced more than once to chatting up the cats. They’re lousy conversationalists.
Also, it has been far too long since I last sat down with pen and paper rather than a keyboard. My hand is actually cramping! And to think I once used to do this so much I actually have a permanent dent in my middle finger where the pen rests. The computer age is not good for writing skills.
The waiting is the frustrating part. The power could come back in five minutes or five days and with no phone I can’t harass the power company for an estimate. Not to mention that most of the batteries in the house are rechargeable…and in need of recharging. Of course.
For someone as attached to her computer as I am this is tantamount to torture! Note to self: Contact the U.N. and turn in Mother Nature for violating the Geneva Convention. Of course violating said convention doesn’t seem to carry much weight these days. Yes, I’m rolling my eyes at my own government and a former president in particular who happily and publicly admitted to authorizing the use of torture. So much for plausible deniability, eh? Not that anyone seems to mind.
Whoops. Solitary time equals political rant. I’ll file that one away for when I’m warm again. My sister has asked for an article on Glenn Beck as she’s not familiar with him and doesn’t understand my fervent assertion that he’s bat shit crazy. That’s a technical term by the way for someone one fry short of a happy meal and in desperate need of six rolls of rubber wallpaper. Another future article.
***
My brother in law just rolled up for a quick stop to tell me most of the city is without power so who knows when we’ll get ours back. Also a message from himself to go buy a cooler and empty the fridge onto the back patio. Right. A cooler in January, cause stores love to stock those this time of year. Oh and my in-laws still have power. Lucky bastards!
***
I’ve returned from the store a bit the worse for wear. My turn to lose an argument with the ice. A limp is fashionable, right? I was right and coolers it seems are like the Dodo right now, extinct, at least until the spring. I did luck out and find a crappy little AM/FM radio. At least now I’ll have the company of human voices, other than my own, and maybe some news while I’m at it!
Watching a gentle, heavy snowfall is hypnotic really not to mention relaxing. Before you think the power deprivation is getting to me, I watch snowfall’s even when the power is on. I love them. Take a walk in a blizzard sometime. All you hear is the sound of falling snow, like a soft shushing and white is your world. It’s incredibly peaceful.
***
The prospect of returned power gets slimmer by the hour. A news report has just counted over 200,000 power outages across Ohio with 35,000 alone of those here in Columbus. To add insult to injury, evening is falling and the light fading. Time, I suppose, to light the candles and cuddles some cats for warmth.
***
Its night once more and over twenty-four hours since the power went out for good. My husband and I are camped in the kitchen boiling a pot of water to raise the room temperature at least a little. The candles flickering light emphasizes the fact that I’m going to be doing dishes for a day and a half when the power does come back on. Meanwhile, the power has been restored for everyone around us. Only our complex of townhomes remains in the dark. It’s going to be a long night again.
***
As I sat on the counter once more trying to tune the radio and my husband was out to the store finding a couple more things to add to dinner, the lights came back on! I cheered and then cheered again all the louder with a laugh as I heard the muffled happy shouts of all my neighbors as well. My husband came in the door just then and was grinning and laughing. He said he could hear what must have been the entire complex let up a cheer when the lights flashed back on. I tossed my coat on and ran down to the corner where the power crew was working to give them a hearty and happy thank you.
Now we’re cuddled up with the electric blankets while the furnace works to make this place warm again and the prospect of getting a night’s sleep without my toes freezing is almost enough to make me cry with joy.
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