Saturday, January 06, 2007

Don't you love the 21st century?

Our holidays started on a dark note - literally. On Dec. 14 we had a terrible windstorm in the Pacific Northwest that plunged almost two million people into darkness. Think about it - no twinkly lights, no carols, no Starbucks! (No Starbucks!!!), and no juice to run a laptop. Our regression to the 19th century lasted five very long days. And I think it would have been much longer if the guys in the neighborhood hadn't fired up their chain saws and cut down the offending tree.

Wow - it sounds like I live in wild west, doesn't it?

Fortunately, there were a few commercial places that had power. Unfortunately, they were innundated with folks who wanted to get warm or to plug in their laptops. I personally went to the laundromat - how about that? It's amazing how much we rely on our computers, our e-mail, our high speed cable, our automatic coffee pots - yada, yada, yada.

But the lesson of small and large blessings came home to roost in a big way. A good friend's house was cut in half by a gigantic tree. The amazing thing was that two minutes later she would have been feeding her baby right where that tree fell.

Life is a series of miracles!

So, it's the new year and we're back to the 21st century. Did I mention I LOVE ELECTRICITY! Let's just see how it lasts since we've been pummeled with strong Pacific storms. I can't wait for spring.

Hope you have a great new year.

Ann DeFee

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

((HUGS)) Ann. We've been lucky where I am and haven't had any major storms for a few years now. There was an ice storm a few years back that took out power to half the town. It wasn't fun. Just glad you're back in the 21st century and safe! Electricity is our friend. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Ann, I share your pain. I, too, live in WA. We were without power for 6 days with the big storm. Yesterday we were without power for 12 hours and it brought back horrible memories! I love my electricity.