Early this morning I awoke to the relentless beep of our carbon monoxide detector. I turn towards the clock on my nightstand. It's black. No power.
I reach for the flashlight I keep by my bed. A flicker, then dark. Batteries dead.
I reach for my cell phone. 5:15 am. (Thank goodness for cell phones!)
I stumble towards the hall, accidently knocking the CO2 detector out of the outlet and toss it on the bed next to Brian asking him to get it to stop.
I continue precariously downstairs towards the kitchen to procure a working flashlight. THREE flashlights later I am successful!
Brian sets his cell phone alarm and we go back to bed. It is eerily quiet. The whole neighborhood is dark.
An hour later Travis enjoys his breakfast by candlelight. I locate the old transistor radio deep in the depths of the basement, add batteries, and attempt to hear an explanation of why the power still is not back on.
The kids leave for school. Now what? My morning routine is disrupted, and I am shocked at how lost I feel not being able to check cnn.com, email or blogs.
This wrinkle in the day gives me pause.
I am "forced" to read the paper, do the cross word puzzle, and even manage to watch a humming bird flitter around the Rose of Sharon near my front porch.
I put off getting ready for the day in hopes that the electricity will return before I need to blow dry my hair. I organize my sewing drawers (not that I ever sew) and clean up wrapping paper and ribbons left over from the opening-of-the-wedding-gifts soirée. Half way thru this last task the power comes back on--four hours without electricity.
Lessons learned:
- Keep a WORKING flashlight by bed at night. Check regularly.
- Give each of the kids a flashlight to keep by their beds (Well, maybe not Abby. She would use it to read into the wee hours of the night.)
- Keep a transistor radio HANDY--make sure it has fresh batteries.
- Try out a LOW maintenance hairdo. Yes, a pony tail is fine, but my bangs need direction. Would a paper fan work?
- Shake up my morning routine. Sit on the porch and enjoy the birth of a new day.
- Say many prayers of thanksgiving for electric power.