thankful for.... POWER
We lost power in the middle of the night last night, not once but twice. All the detectors beeped when the power went out, dragging me away from dreams to see a very dark house. Virginia was already up and moving around, using a blackberry to navigate to a flashlight...... both so much safer than candles..... and then replacing the flashlight batteries when they quit almost immediately after she lit the lamp. We both chuckled at that. Thank goodness Virginia is always prepared and she had fresh D batteries on hand.
She smelled smoke, which always harks back to the two Christmas fires we suffered a few years apart in this complex and as I was hurriedly dressing and finding my glasses I fought to quell the panic that immediately rose to the surface. I went out in the rain and only smelled gentle fireplace smoke wafting on the breeze and then Virginia walked all the way around our building to be sure that all seemed well. We will never entirely heal from the effect of those fires. Virginia called the power company and we settled back in to the darkness. A couple of hours later the power came back on, only to go off once again for a time.... a night of disturbed sleep.
Our lives are so tied to electricity, to run all the functions of our homes and to chill our food, our sources of communication and entertainment, and our ability to get to and from our place of work. It is hard to imagine a time when there were no power outlets, and the light of the stars was good enough to travel by on horseback. Even farther back those cave dwellers had only the fire they built to ward of the inky darkness and anything (with big teeth or sharp sticks) hiding there..... and the thought gives me a little shiver as I have been a bit afraid of the dark since childhood. On rising this morning I was grateful to see the blinking of the unset clock, and as I walked through the heated house and looked out the windows I was glad to see light in the windows of other early-rising neighbors.
I am very thankful for the power that keeps us warm and lights the darkness and am so aware that there are still people living without power, and some without shelter - in this country and in other countries - as we move toward a time of celebration and gratefulness...... and even in my very simple life I know that I am lucky beyond measure.
Labels: acrylics, art, artist, Fine Art, fine art prints, florals, flower, giclees, Judith HeartSong, limited edition prints, Maryland, painter, paintings, Rockville, watercolor
posted by Judith HeartSong at 6:25 AM
4 Comments:
I'm so glad all turned out ok.
We had an outage not long ago that lasted four hours. Apparently, an animal was on the lines and, well, the two did not make a good match.
Whenever the electricity goes out, I'm reminded of how even in the 21st C there are some things, if fact many things, we just don't control. And like you, I, too, give thanks for all the conveniences we have that we too often take for granted.
Fifteen years ago I lived in a large house and it was entirely electric. We had a terrible ice storm on Jan. 8th and we lost power for five days. It was shocking to see how dependent we were on electricity. WE borrowed a kerosene heater from a barn just to keep our kitchen warm and slept there. I will never take electricity for granted again. When I purchased this house, I made sure it had natural gas so we could always light a stove and boil water.
Those are GREAT things to be thankful for. I am grateful and thankful for your friendship (and Virgina's) over the years. Anne
Happy Thanksgiving from our house to your house. We tend to forget how simple things like having water, heat and lights are a blessing.
Joyce M
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