Where Was Moses When the Lights Went Out?

Whenever we had a power outage, Larry would ask this question.           I think it was something that was a habit in his family, but I don’t know that as an absolute fact. The answer always was, “down in the cellar eating sauerkraut.” Yesterday, we had a relatively unexpected winter storm (it is, after all, May 20, five days after we could “safely” put in bedding plants); but, nevertheless, we had a wet, heavy, snow storm that lasted all day and into the night.

My clock radio alarm did it’s job of waking me at six, playing the NPR station that I listen to. I, of course, went back to sleep after letting the dogs out. Katie woke me, again, at about eight. The radio had stopped playing. It shouldn’t have stopped. I let the dogs out again, and turned the switch on the table lamp beside my bed. Nothing. No electricity. So, where was I when the lights went out? Not in the dark, fortunately; the light streaming through the windows made it easy to see.

I told the dogs we were going back to bed, and we did. You will remember that Kate is not allowed on beds, but she decided that, today, was her day. So, up she came, taking up all of the space not occupied by Lady and me. The temperature in the house was sixty degrees, so having both dogs in bed did warm up our little space, and we slept.

Even though I had kicked up the thermostat to sixty-four degrees the first time I woke with music, there was now no hope of having heat from the furnace; it requires electricity for the fan. I debated with myself about starting the wood stove, but decided it still wasn’t cold enough in the house to do so.

As I lay in bed thinking about this day as being wasted if the power was not restored soon, I received a text message from XCel (our power source) saying: Due to large scale outages in your area, we do not have an estimated restoration time right now. Get more info at www.xcelenergy.com/eo Although I do have two computers at my house, only one has access to the internet and it, if course, has no electricity to power it, right now. And, so, I would love to ask the creator of this message, how in the world does he/she/it think I’m going too “get more info?”

I fed the dogs, ate cold cereal for breakfast as none of my breakfast making tools were available, ginned up my laptop to write. It started out with 93% battery, and will work its way to zero in no time. So, I guess I’d better type fast.

Years ago, Daughter #2 gave me a wind-up battery radio. By winding the handle, the battery charged, thus allowing for radio reception. I have probably seen that radio more than a dozen times in the past five months. Do you think I can find it, now? Of course not. It seems to have gone into Never-Never-Land. I also cannot find the radio powered by six (I think) D-sized batteries. Maybe, I gave it to someone, thinking I’d never need it again.

Looking out of my windows, I can see the branches that have fallen from two of my trees. My cottonwood and my soft maple. Even though my tree trimmers do an excellent job when they come, for the past three hours and more, I have listened to branches falling onto the ground with a thud!  So far, praise God, none have come onto my roof. One branch has about a five inch diameter; all of the others are smaller. They are coming down, one every three or four minutes.  If this continues, the grass will be covered with downed limbs. They have been falling for four hours, now. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m going to have any branches on my trees.

The spring blossoms that have given such glory to our environment for the past two or three weeks will, very probably, be frozen and will disappear. I had a “backyard” conversation with neighbor Melissa’s friend, yesterday. She was cutting some lilacs from the bush that grows on both sides of our fences. Clearly, she got them just in the nick of time. Time will tell what has actually happened to our fruit trees – will we or won’t we have fruit to pick in the summer? The tulips and iris blossoms are bent to the ground and may not rise again.

These are the joys of living in Colorado. We plant our seeds, our bulbs, and bedding plants. We grow our bushes and trees. And, we hope for the best from the weather.

Update:  The power was restored by 9 pm.  I did start the wood stove and sat in the living room next to the warmth of its heat.

Be safe and Be well

The Cranky Crone

Thoughtful comments are appreciated.