Power Down

I woke to the quiet of a silent home. No movement of warm air through the vents. No hum of the refrigerator. No click of the coffee maker turning itself on. 

No power. 

I stumbled around in the dark that would have been significantly less dark at this same time of day last week. (Thank you, time change.)

We were forecasted to have snow, but had it really been enough to knock out the power? I pulled up the news on my phone, but there were no reports of widespread outages. 

Glancing out the windows, I couldn’t tell if neighbors weren’t up yet or if they, too, were powerless. Either way, it was time to start the day—power or no power. 

I made a silent wish for hot water, not knowing how long the electricity had been out or how long the tank would hold the temperature on its own. 

I discovered that showering in the dark is surprisingly peaceful (when the water is still hot, which it was). 

I discovered that putting on makeup by the light of a cell phone is not easy. (Although that was less surprising.) 

As I got ready, pulling on a go-to outfit that requires no mirror check, I skimmed through my email and discovered a trail of messages. 

Outage Alert!

Your Estimated Restoration. . . 

Change to Your Estimated Restoration. . . 

Okay, good to know someone is on it (or, rather, has been on it for hours—yikes). Look at that timing: the sun is up. Off to work!

As I scraped the layer of rain-that-turned-to-ice-overnight off my windshield, I wondered if the garage I always wish for on windshield scraping mornings would have trapped my car on a morning without electricity. . .

Now that would make a person feel powerless!