Power

I had an unexpected eight hours without power today, thank you very much winter storms. I am warm with the lights on and the fire crackling now, but I admit it took a while for my . . . anxiety? was that what that was? . . . to cool down.

I had a virtual workshop this morning through Write On (our local writing nonprofit). It was originally in person, but . . . winter storm. When the power went out a couple of hours before the workshop started I got off my computer with the intention of saving the battery to make it through the two-hour class. It was a success! I got through the workshop with a draining battery and the power of my hotspot . . . while getting colder the longer my place was without heat.

My parents are in Hawaii this week, but fortunately, they live close and have a generator so I headed over there for the afternoon. That was a bit of its own adventure with poor roads and picking up warm food from town and being so careful only to get stuck when I got in their driveway. I shoveled myself out of that debacle and my dad coordinated from afar with the plowman so I could move my car for him to plow the driveway.

I hunkered in the sunroom for the afternoon, thankful again for my hotspot. Though my intention was to dive into writing immediately, it took me a while to get back in the headspace. I felt kind of cold and keyed up (was that what that was?) from the lack of power and driving and the uncertainty of when it would be restored.

When the power came back on just before five, that’s when my brain finally seemed to wake back up. Just as I prepared to pack up and go home and call it a day for writing, that’s when I suddenly could think again and I figured out how to attack a particular problem in my manuscript. I got myself home, built a fire, and spent another two hours writing.

So what’s my lesson here . . . I need lights and heat to be comfortable and think? That seems like a given. Or maybe it’s just to be kind to myself when unexpected annoyances come up and pile up.

With Love,

Natalie