Monday, June 25, 2012

Power Is ON

Quite unbelievably to me, the power came back on, just as I was starting supper. I have a gas stove so I can cook even if the power is out and I had just gotten the brown rice out and was fixing to start it up.
I was so sure that we would be without power for the entire night that I didn't even turn on the overhead light in the kitchen. Mr. Moon, when he got home, pointed this out to me.
I guess I felt as if I was destined to be in darkness tonight.

It could still happen.

When I was at Lily's with the boys today, a mysterious power outage happened. Some of the power was on in some of the rooms, and other rooms were without. So strange!
Jason got home and we did all the things you do. We flipped the breakers (I'd already done that) and he even went up into the attic looking for something there but found nothing. He was going out the front door to go ask the next door neighbors if their power was out when he saw...a huge branch which had fallen and taken a line with it.

"Snap!" he said.

Indeed.

He called the city and they said it would be several hours before they could come out and to cut off all the power in the house to be safe. He packed up diapers and clothes and formula and we got the boys in his car and he took them to his mama's. I knew the odds were real good that the power was out at my house, which it was when I got home.

I had texted Mr. Moon to stop and get ice and a battery powered coffee maker and oh, maybe some rum and he texted me back, "Got you covered!" Of course, he knew we didn't really need a battery-powered coffee maker. We have an old fashioned percolator that Lis got me which works fine in a pinch. We didn't really need rum either, but he brought some home.
I love that man.

The rain is pouring down. The ground is not going to accept a whole lot more, I fear. I remember a few years ago when something like this happened and we watched the water rise and rise and...rise. This is not a huge storm but it surely is affecting us.

Storms like this serve to remind me of how close we are to losing all semblance of civilization. Roads are blocked from flooding, power goes out, we are stranded. Branches and trees fall, it is almost as dark as night at noon, and we are left without internet or phone. After a storm that hit here the year we moved to Lloyd, cell towers were taken out as well and so there was not even that. I think of Freddy's movie, Disconnected, and I realize it's not that much of a fantasy. All of our carefully packed-away freezer stuff slowly thaws and we either cook it or lose it which can be a tragedy of small but real proportions and if we couldn't make it to grocery stores where power has been restored, we really would go hungry.

Well. Maybe it's good to be reminded. And living in a house which was built way before electricity was invented is somehow comforting. We would hardly be the first to survive without it although those people, the people who built the house, were set up for it. We most definitely are not.

My rice is almost done. I can go make a salad in the light.

Thanks for listening. It helps leak my anxiety to write about it, let it go.

Sort of.

Yours truly...Ms. Moon

15 comments:

  1. You have a garden and chickens to hold you over in case of civilization collapse :)

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  2. assuming they don't wash away in the flood.

    I'm not helping, am I?

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  3. Rice. That'll stick to your ribs. And rum....well, that goes with everything.

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  4. Hang in there, Ms. Moon! And drink some rum.

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  5. I pray you and yours will be safe.

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  6. I know it's wrong, but I'm a little jealous of the rain. We've had so little this summer, and the ground is cracking.

    Stay safe, lovely Mary Moon.

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  7. Your mention of the coffee-peculator reminded me of my mom. When we went camping she made coffee in one over a gas stove. It was the best coffee ever.
    And the rain. I live in a rain forest and it rains a LOT. All the time. Today at six in the morning it was a beautiful sunny day and now it is a downpour. You know what though? I love the sound. I would love to go lay in the grass all naked and just feel the coolness on my body. I just might do that after it gets dark.

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  8. Glad that your man is home and that you are weathering the storm together. x0 N2

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  9. I'm always reminded of these things when southern California goes through a terrible fire season or extended period of high heat and the circuits blow from over-use. And then there's the possibility of The Big One -- something that we grow complacent about until reminded. Lord, I should change out my emergency water supply...

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  10. Glad your power is back on. I remember well from my years in Florida what it's like to have the power go out all the time. Ours used to go out practically every day in the rainy season. Debby brought more than 10 inches of rain to my mom's neighborhood down near Tampa. (And she doesn't even have rum to help her make it through!)

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  11. I can understand your anxiety, it could all change in the blink of an eye and although sometimes I think it needs to . . . I do wonder what if?
    There are many floods here too; water rising at an alarming level.
    I've had a recurrent dream throughout my life of running up a hill away from rising water.
    I hope things have settled for you and your family.

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  12. I'm glad that you are safe. We can use the rain here. Take care and enjoy the "pioneer" days. But I hope that you are spared further rain and storms.

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  13. Stephanie- And Mr. Moon could shoot squirrels....
    They won't wash away.

    Denise- It's the universal solvent as far as I'm concerned.

    Blue Gal- Done and done!

    DTG- I was thinking about you! Do you miss Connie?

    Anonymous Jo- Oh Lord. Thanks.

    Chrissy- I am very grateful for all this water. However we can get it.

    Birdie- Sounds rather divine.

    N2- It's pretty cozy.

    Elizabeth- I should GET a water supply.

    Steve- Yeah. Our power is like that too. Just what you have to deal with.

    Bugerlugs- I have never once had THAT dream. I'm grateful.

    Syd- It's so nice when the power comes on. We appreciate it all the more, don't we?

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