Power Outage

There was a planned power outage this morning, though it lasted four hours instead of the anticipated three. I had revved up the baseboard heaters in the bedroom ahead of time, to carry us through, and all was well. But I was struck how silent the building is when the power is off. No humming fridge, no electric clock, no dehumidifier roaring, no ticking of the heaters, no buzz of the overhead lights. Pure silence like cotton in my ears.

No watching Hallmark movies or cooking up a pot of pasta. There was nothing to do but lie in bed and keep warm and try to read by the dim light coming in the window. And it was dim because it is snowing today. So I guess I did get to watch a movie of sorts: Snow Falling on Cedars. Literally, out my window. It was peaceful and meditative and lovely. I wish I had a camera so I could show you a shot of the eight tall cedars in our yard, flocked white and beautiful with snow.

It turns out it's a good thing I had to stay an extra week here at the church, because the crew doing construction on our block back in the city accidentally cut our Rogers cable. My husband and son and renters are without phone, internet, or TV until Tuesday. If I weren't here, I would have missed a couple of days of being able to work and my virtual doctor appointment on Monday. So there is a silver lining to my extra unanticipated week here. I hope it gets restored soon, though, because our new renter moving in next week is coming to live with us specifically because he didn't get good internet at his old place. We guaranteed him ours worked fine. Sigh.