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We had a roughly 6-hour power outage last night, always slightly nervewracking in below-zero weather. It's fascinating how much more appealing going to bed suddenly becomes when it's pitch dark, there's no Internet, and the only heat is the residual heat remaining in the hot-water radiators. At least it was closer to midnight than to, say, 5 p.m. (It gets dark about 4 in the afternoon, these days.) I tried doing some art by the light of a small LED lantern, but it was too dim to be fun, so I read a little and went to bed. Power came back around 5:30 a.m.
I grew up without electricity -- we didn't get it until I was around 13 or 14 -- so all my winters were like that once upon a time, long and dark and lit only by kerosene lamps and the flickering of the fire. Now? Now I complain if I have to go for half an hour in the darkest heart of winter without my bright overhead fluorescent lights and my Internet.
There was something strikingly peaceful about it, though .... reminiscent of my cabin childhood. The house gets so shockingly quiet without the background hum of electronics and the refrigerator. We're far enough out in the country that there's little traffic, and the handful of neighbor lights normally visible from the windows were out as well. The moon was very bright, the night very clear. No distractions, no Internet, no temptation to turn on some device. Orion went to bed immediately, like a sensible person, so it was just me and the moon (and a rather anxious dog) until I got tired of straining my eyes trying to read, and went to bed myself.
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I grew up without electricity -- we didn't get it until I was around 13 or 14 -- so all my winters were like that once upon a time, long and dark and lit only by kerosene lamps and the flickering of the fire. Now? Now I complain if I have to go for half an hour in the darkest heart of winter without my bright overhead fluorescent lights and my Internet.
There was something strikingly peaceful about it, though .... reminiscent of my cabin childhood. The house gets so shockingly quiet without the background hum of electronics and the refrigerator. We're far enough out in the country that there's little traffic, and the handful of neighbor lights normally visible from the windows were out as well. The moon was very bright, the night very clear. No distractions, no Internet, no temptation to turn on some device. Orion went to bed immediately, like a sensible person, so it was just me and the moon (and a rather anxious dog) until I got tired of straining my eyes trying to read, and went to bed myself.
This entry is also posted at http://sholio.dreamwidth.org/1047863.html with
Speaking of electricity and Alaska... my dad was an electrician for the Army based in Alaska in the 1950s, helping to bring electricity to rural areas in Alaska. For all I know, he might have had a hand in putting up your power poles. :)
That's really interesting about your dad! He must have had some fascinating stories to tell about that. (I didn't quite tell the whole story above -- we were still too rural to be on the power grid; we just had an electrical generator. So not quite that much of a personal connection! But that must have been quite the job to have had.)
Growing up in Healy we had electricity. Not much else but that we did have!
Glad you weren't without for too long. :)
In the modern world, though, there's something almost transcendental about having no power. It makes you rethink everything.
I honestly can't imagine doing it now, and sometimes wonder how on earth we did it then.
That's one of the things that fascinate me endlessly - both how adaptable people are, and how very easily the strangest things can become normalised. (It's something fiction tends to get wrong more often than not, I think - or perhaps I haven't found the right books; I don't know.)
We had a major ice storm a few years back and I was without power for about a week--I ended up staying one night in a hotel because it was so bad.
But I know what you mean about the peacefulness of it. I used battery-operated lanterns to read a historical novel and it just felt so right, so *magical* to read that story then. However I was glad when the power was restored! I definitely know the meaning of a Three Dog Night. :-)
.... Which fortunately didn't happen. A week, though ... that would have been HARD, no matter the climate.
But, yeah. I think there is something almost transcendental, in the modern world, about being without power for a little while. It's such an omnipresent part of our lives now that it's hard to believe we existed for so many years without it, and people still do, in parts of the world. I appreciated having the reminder, last night. (And then I appreciated having the power back!)
I enjoyed the temporary peace, but was VERY glad to have the power back by morning.
Power cuts were very common when I was younger, it was very unpleasant in the summer(temp in the late 30's or early 40 C). We took to sleeping on our terrace one summer dragging our mattress outside, sleeping out under stars was a surreal experience, the only down side is that we had to get up at the crack of dawn. We continued the tradition for as long as we stayed there.
It must have been interesting, sleeping under the stars -- but I would not have wanted to deal with such heat!
Okay, maybe that's a little OTT - but only a little, lol!! Glad the power came back on!