My husband and I recently lost our power for four days. Due to horrible winds and bad storms, we experienced our first power failure in the city for an extended period of time. Having been raised in a rural area, my family and I were used to being without power during storms and at other various times of the year. In those days, we were on well water with an electric pump, so when the power went off, so did the water. I remember many a time my mom filling up our bathtub and every large pot and pan we owned with water, so we could at least have a sitz bath and drinking water. Thanks to a gas stove, we could cook and heat up water. It was not pleasant in some ways, but in other ways it was somewhat of an adventure. My folks were musical, we could sing and play our piano, read from the light of a hurricane lamp, and talk about everything without interruption from the television.
When my husband and I recently lost our power, it was not as tragic as I thought it would be. We had lots of nice candles burning throughout the house and since we had city water and a gas water heater we could take hot showers. We also had a nice warm comforter we could sleep under. We burned wood in our two fireplaces and I actually sat down and read a book. Had I not had my job to go to, I think the lack of power would have been less tolerable. I worked out at the gym after work and took a nice hot shower there and met up with my husband at home after my workout. It was nice to be able to sit down with him and reflect upon the day’s activities.
Our families and friends offered us a warm place to stay, but we chose to stay at our house and sleep in our own bed. As long as we were together, it didn’t really matter if the lights were off or on. The gentle glow of the candles and the two fireplaces was actually relaxing and romantic.
