Monday, December 20, 2010

Gratitude Monday -- Powering Down

The power was off the other day. It lasted about 45 minutes.
It happened about 3:30 p.m. of an overcast day. That cut down on the number of things I could do, but after opening the blinds a bit more I had enough to see the notes well enough to play guitar for a bit.
It's relaxing, and I swear it helps me think.
But after 15 minutes or so my poor uncallused fingers cried so I had to quit.
So I napped. This gave me a chance to quiet myself enough to truly enjoy the quiet around me.
It's different with the appliances off. Even when I mediate now I am aware of what's humming.
On this occasion all was quiet. It was wonderful.
When I power came back on I set about restoring the assorted clocks and settings on the two VCRs and two DVD-Rs.
I enjoyed the respite from the plugged -in world, but I was glad to have lights and heat and all the other benefits of electricity.
*
I found out the next day that some poor fellow out to set up a nativity scene had caused the outage. He'd been stuck in his truck the whole time. I am grateful this fellow knew enough to stay put.

14 comments:

Tabor said...

How come he as stuck in the tree? WEre there live wires on the ground?

Leah J. Utas said...

Tabor, I'm not clear on the specifics. He either struck a pole or some wires. If he's stepped on the ground he would have been electrocuted.

the Bag Lady said...

It's amazing how quiet things are when the electricity is out!

Glad it didn't last long, and glad the fellow wasn't injured.

Leah J. Utas said...

Bag Lady, it's downright eerie at first.

messymimi said...

Power outages do remind us of how much we have, don't they?

For the uncallused fingers, Sweetie, who has been playing for over 40 years says to try the following method.

First, play for as long as you can stand it once a day for 3 days in a row. Then, do not play for the next two days.

Second, on the days off, soak the tips of the fingers in rubbing alcohol, vinegar, or some astringent of some type. Soak for a minute or two and let it dry on your fingers.

Then, go back to playing for 3 days.

Continue to alternate in that way for up to 3 weeks, and your fingers will toughen.

Leah J. Utas said...

Messymimi, great tip. Thanks.

Reb said...

Good thing he stayed where he was. It is eerie when the power is out.

Unless you live in an apartment and have to go open the doors to the street to get light in the hall and all the neighbours poke their heads out asking if the power is off, then it's just funny/frustrating. One day I am going to tell someone an EMP was set off and WWIII has started & we will never have power again.

Glad it didn't last long in this cold.

Leah J. Utas said...

LOL. Reb, I'd love to be with you when you announce the war.

Redbush said...

It was a good thing he stayed put. I'm sure one would get a little antsy until you were rescued by the power company. It really is a different world without electricity. So many things depend on it.

Dawn said...

Well good he had that kind of sense. As usual...I would have panicked:(

I didn't know you played guitar! You should put a video up....would like to hear a Christmas carol please:)
(I think I can strum out jingle bells on mine;)

Makes you appreciate our electricity when you lose it! (Our water shuts down when we lose ours....try that for fun with 6 in the house. I would not have made it as a Pioneer Woman!)

Leah J. Utas said...

Redbush, if it happened to me I hope I'd be to scared to move.

Dawn, I don't play guitar well. It's for my own pleasure. I bought a really good guitar to make up for my lack of ability.

Ron Scheer said...

Living in a hurricane zone, I've had the experience of life without power for several days at a time. It's like returning to the 19th century. It takes so long to stop flipping a light switch every time you step into a darkened room.

Without the bad weather, I kind of like it - the quiet is so welcome after the constant flood of white noise that is modern life. Of course, a rolling outage during a heat wave is no fun.

Hilary said...

There's such a different feel to the day (and especially the night) when the power is off for a while. I'm glad it wasn't long enough for things to cool down too much and I'm especially glad that driver knew not to leave his truck.

Leah J. Utas said...

Ron, I agree with you about the quiet. And about the learned response when one walks in a room.

Hilary, there sure is. We have candles so we'd get by, and it was cold out so we could always put the food in the garage if had to keep it cold. Glad it didn't come to that.