Cabin Fever

Well readers it has been quite the week, we went from snowbound and cozy to blackedout and iced over.

I was Skyping with D on Wednesday night when all of the sudden my computer snapped off and my house went dark. After feeling my way around the rooms, and running into one of the walls, I found my way to the storage closet for a flashlight. By morning the power was back on…or so we thought.

Thursday my mom and I sat down in our family room with breakfast. I had another snow day and her work was closed. We were both ready to watch one of my favorite 80’s sitcoms, Golden Girls, then the lights began to flicker again. Holding our breath, we watched the light bulb wink at us. Within minutes the house once again went dark and silent. We looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Here we go again we thought. Suddenly the TV came back on and the lights lay at a dim. Unfortunately it didn’t last long, soon enough we were in the dark once again. Light fixtures have such a sick sense of humor.

I worked on lesson plans for a bit as my mom worked on cleaning up the Christmas decorations. Once my fingers reached the point of needing gloves, typing soon lost its luster.  After checking Facebook on my phone a few or so times I couldn’t take being inside much longer. My sister sent me a text and suggested I shovel the driveway, so I ventured outside to give it a try. She soon sent me another message and said a guy had died due to having an icy branch break off and fall on him. I have three, tall cedars that live in the front yard of my house, needless to say I made my way back inside. Not that my shoveling did a whole lot anyways; within hours the part I had scooped off was covered with icy snow once more.

We kept a battery powered radio close by. The reporter said there were over 300,000 people without power and the hopes of any of them receiving light again anytime soon was slim. My mom and I sat wrapped up in blankets as fuses blew and falling trees brought down power lines in neighboring cities around us. The governor declared a state of emergency. She was ready to send the National Guard to help aid anyone who needed it. Our radio announcer told us that there were shelters being set up in various cities and towns. Warming shelters he called it, too bad many of us couldn’t even get out on the roads to drive there. As the sun began to set and night closed in, our house felt like an icebox. I couldn’t help but be thankful though. With the warmth of a crackling fire and calming sight of flickering candles, my home felt so cozy. I’m blessed enough to have a place to stay and food to eat.

Thankfully our power is back on (despite a few nerve wracking flickers) and the first thing I’m looking forward to is a hot shower. Maybe a warm meal too ;).