Cut off from the world ...

I've been cut off from the world for a day ... so I'll write about the topics in my previous post soon.



Wow ... the Pacific Northwest's weather is in all the news this fall. How weird ... it's usually so bland ...

We've had some windstorms lately, but Thursday evening/night was incredible. I don't know exactly how high the winds were, but a railing on our balcony blew halfway off, roof shingles went flying (not ours, I don't think), and all the leaves that were in the street where I usually park are now gone. I don't care where they went - probably Idaho by now.

And - our power went out.

Not such a big deal, normally ... the power goes out, for a few minutes or a few hours, then it comes back on. Inconvenient, yes. Part of the thrill of a storm coming through? Yeah, for a bit.

Ours went out sometime in the very early morning; I woke up around 2:30 and it was eerily dark everywhere. No streetlights, no sounds, no light at all as far as I could see in some directions. I went back to sleep, figuring the power would be back on by daylight.

Nope. Something like 700,000 people were without power in the Seattle area - more than a million throughout Washington and Oregon. We got out the flashlights and the battery-powered camping lanterns, turned on the radio, and Scott got ready and left for work. And I waited for the power to come back on. And waited.

Jeez, I thought, how f-ing annoying. No computer, no television or DVD player, I can't even make something for lunch. I stayed upstairs where it was a little warmer - in the office mostly. Tap tap tap ... drumming my fingers on the desk, listening to the fourth replay of some interview or other on NPR. Grrrrr.

And it kept getting colder. No heat. It only got up into the low 40's today, and the forecast says down to the 20's tonight, maybe some snow. Hmmm. That's not good. I check the thermostat - it's down to 54 degrees inside. I put on a couple t-shirts, a sweatshirt, extra socks.

Slowly, I hear the news reports say, power is coming back on in sections of the city. Now 170,000 without power ... now 137,000 ... now 110,000 ... still no power here.

Then it's getting dark. Still no power. How will we eat? I take a flashlight down to the basement, haul up the propane camp stove and think of what I can cook outside on the deck in the wind. I light every candle I can find, for light and for warmth. This isn't fun anymore. It's not just annoying. I'm cold, and hungry, and getting a little worried.

How do people do this? How do all the people that I read about every year survive having their gas and electricity shut off when they can't pay the bills? How many people was it that died last year in Chicago from the cold? And this year? All over the country? How do they live like this day after night after day? I've seen houses in my neighborhood with broken windows, sheets and towels hanging over them to keep out the cold. I know some of them probably don't have power, at least some of the time. I know that there are kids who wear their big puffy parkas inside because they have to. I'm thinking of putting on my gloves and I think, do they have gloves?

Our power came back on around 6:30 or so tonight. *Whew*. I turned the furnace on right away, turned on some lights, turned on the Christmas tree, turned on the oven to start dinner and take the chill out of the kitchen. On went the iPod player. Thank god that's over.

And I felt guilty. I was inconvenienced for about 18 hours. I was bored and cold and hungry and a little apprehensive for 18 hours. For 18 hours I felt what millions of people all over the world feel every second of their life.

It was a good reminder to me ... even though I knew we'd be okay, for just a short time I felt pretty helpless. We (I, definitely) take so many things for granted. Lights, heat, e-mail and internet access, a working refrigerator and oven are just some. I've had the opportunity to consider what many people don't have, and how easy it really can be to help. Do something to help those in need. Remember that there are many that are less fortunate than you. Don't think that you can't someday be in their shoes, even if for a short time. The world is pretty scary when it's cold and dark and you're hungry and you don't see it ending. And we should all have to know how that feels, sometimes.

Edit: The winds were 69 mph in Seattle ... 90 mph on the coast ... 113 mph on Mount Rainier. Oy ...