Gorgeous it may be. But after two days without heat, hot water, or electricity in very cold weather, I will not be reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Long Winter" anytime soon.
I'm one of the lucky ones - I now have heat, hot water, and electricity. And a car. The manual release on my garage door didn't work, so I didn't have a car until the power came on. Now, life is almost astonishingly back to normal, except that I love, even more than before, heat, hot water, and electricity.
That's the summary of the weekend. Here are the boring details:
Thursday: Power goes out.
Friday: Power still out. Can't get car out of garage. Take bus to work (where there is power and heat).
Friday night: Cold. Put fire in fireplace and wrap gifts. Much colder and not anywhere near as romantic as it sounds. Gifts look surprisingly good in daylight.
Saturday: Cold. Get ride to church to set up for Christmas concert.
Saturday afternoon: Power! Heat! Electricity! Car! But car battery is dead. Get out recharger and recharge car.
Saturday late afternoon: run errands like crazy. Drink hot chocolate. Eat warm things.
Saturday evening: Church Christmas party. Friends without power come over to stay (the fun part of the weekend!)
Saturday 11pm: Realize that, unlike promise made to friends, there is no hot water. Go down to basement. Throw away two dead mice. Squeegie standing water out of basement. Learn how to light pilot light on water heater while kneeling in water.
Sunday morning: breakfast with friends; church
Sunday afternoon; meetings, lunch with friends, make cookies for office cookie exchange
Sunday evening: Help with Christmas concert food and decorations. Come home to warm house.
Monday morning: Sing Hallelujah Chorus with early-morning class, and mean it.