Mom's Talk: What Do You Do Without Electricity?

“What can you do in this house without electricity,” said Sophia as soon as she got out of bed Sunday morning. As the wind whipped through the many trees outside our windows and it “rained” leaves we had to find something to do that didn’t involve computer games, TV, Wii, or even baking.

Quite honestly I think this is a very good time to reassess what is really important.  Remember the old days before we all relied on electricity for so many inane things?

One thing that we have done religiously since the power outage was sit down to every meal together.  We are very, very fortunate to have natural gas piped into our home.  That means we have had a cooktop and a grill on which to whip up some pretty tasty meals. 

Sunday night was still a bit breeze so we had a candlelight dinner in our dining room.  The sconces were lit; we had our sterling silver candles holders in use and various other sources of light to enjoy our repose.  If you didn’t know better you might have thought we were enjoying each other’s company via candlelight just for mood lighting!

The rest of the evenings we have had out dinner al fresco on our deck.  The temperature has been perfect, the food delicious and the company entertaining. 

 It is amazing how creative we have been putting together meals from what we had frozen and those dry goods we had in our cupboards.  It’s always good every once in a while to just concentrate on “cleaning out” the fridge and freezer to make room for fresher food.  None of the food items had freezer burn and when thawed out made delicious meals.

During our “down time” we have dusted off some of the fun board games and challenged our reflexes, strategic moves and minds at the same time.  What fun we have had with Slam, Monopoly, Apples to Apple, Spit and numerous other cards games. 

The one thing we have longed for and miss the most is hot, relaxing showers.  We take for granted our ability to get hot water whenever we want.  This morning I broke down and took a freezing cold shower.  I could not stand myself and knew it wouldn’t be too long before my family or public felt the same way.

We are overwhelmed by the people who have offered assistance.  To Barbara and Rich, thanks for the late night, albeit dark, visits between our home and yours.  Your friendship has helped us weather this storm.  To Carissa, thanks for the invitation to shower at your house.  We aren’t out of the woods yet and may be up Wednesday or Thursday.  To Pem, thanks for allowing me to join you in keeping Madison up to date on what’s happening in town.  All my hours with patch.com have taken my mind off things at home that I have absolutely no control over.

And last, but not least, thanks for all the town officials who are working tirelessly to make sure Madison rebounds from Hurricane Irene in the safest, fastest way possible.

If I forgot anyone, you know I love you and appreciate you!

From our home to all of yours, we won’t let Hurricane Irene win.  We’ll stick together until the bitter end and be better off for it!