Powerless

We had heavy rain Thursday night which was predicted to turn into freezing rain. Do we put some wood on the porch so it's dry just in case? No. Do we set out the flashlights? No. Do we find the camping lamp? No. Do I check the wick in the hurricane lamp? No. Do we lose power? Yes.

At 4 am Friday we heard a beeping noise that woke both of us up. I sat straight up, squinting across the room at the clock. It's dark and we both assume our cat is sitting in front of it. (She does this regularly. She knows it annoys us and she thinks it's funny.) Then we realize ... there's no power and the beeping sound we heard was the cordless phone losing power. We both try to go back to sleep anyway, knowing the power company in our area is really good about getting the power back on within 2 hours, no matter what the condition or cause. As I listen to the rain continuing to pound (it really was heavy all night long), I immediately thought of our soaking wet wood, sitting out in the open. I tried to remind myself that we could go somewhere later in the morning, if necessary. But of course I was worried about the house getting too cold because of Amelia.

Daddy and Amelia got up around 6:30, as usual. She didn't seem to notice that there were candles instead of lights. And it's still the time of year that there isn't any sunlight at that time of the morning. I heard her normal running morning commentary. Then I heard her ask for juice and I got up to help Daddy find it since I knew exactly where in the dark refrigerator I had put it the night before. I turn the corner and there's Amelia and her daddy hunkered in front of the open, dark refrigerator. As I am digging in the junk drawer for the lighter, Amelia starts getting a bit concerned as she elaborates on her juice request. "Juice, please." "Cold juice, please." "Amelia's cold juice, please!" Meanwhile, her nose is about two inches from her sippy cup, little does she know. Found the lighter, flicked it on and it's amazing how much light it puts off. With juice in hand, a relieved Amelia heads to the living room asking for her Tiger video. I told her we couldn't watch it because the power was off and we should play with something else for now. She seemed satisfied with that answer. Then the power came on.

In three hours, the house temperature had only gone down 6 degrees. Not bad. And a relief to know should this happen again. Of course, next time we'll have wood on the porch.