Updating

I can't believe I haven't posted in all this time, but it's been a matter of no electricity.  Here on my street we were without power for a total of 58 hours.  Not fun.  The first night I toughed it out and went to bed early.  The power returned, only to go out the next morning.  During that day of nasty weather outdoors and cold air indoors I decided to see if the little gas fireplace in the family room would work without power.  Amazingly it did.  The electric blower didn't work of course, but at least it provided a little heat (if I sat close to it) and it provided light.  I sat in a chair by the fire and read and did some hand sewing until it was too dark to see.  Then it occurred to me to check on my neighbor.  She was completely in the dark and cold, so I invited her over to share the fire.  She brought backpack food she'd prepared on her little camp stove and we shared it plus some leftover dessert I had in my refrigerator.  About 9pm the power came on for one short hour and then went out again, even though I could see lights on across the fence.  It was hard not to be envious of my condo neighbors. 
Friday morning I was cold and discouraged and didn't feel well, and a friend with lights and heat texted an invitation to come to her house.  I did.  She fed me breakfast, I took a hot shower and slept on her couch for awhile, then felt anxious to be in my own home.  It was 49 degrees in my house.   Another kind neighbor slid on the ice from his house to my back yard, took my gas cans and filled them for me.  Then he picked up an electrician who had offered to help with the initial start of my generator (these two men are my home teachers) and within an hour I had a working freezer, refrigerator and a furnace.  Not only that I had two wall outlets so I could use my microwave and plug in a lamp.  It felt so luxurious.  I called my next door neighbor to share leftover lasagna, and we spent several hours getting better acquainted.  I've had her house keys and alarm system passwords for several years but until this storm we hadn't really spent much time in serious conversation.
I had been told that my generator would probably run about 4 hours on 5 gallons of gas but it ran more than 9 hours.  I kept getting up to check on it but when it was still running at 1am I just quit worrying about it.  The house was cool when I woke but not miserable and I wanted to shovel some snow and break up some of the ice on the walks so I didn't restart the generator until about 10am.  My neighbor brought the contents of her freezer to mine so it wouldn't spoil and we planned our evening meal - she grilled salmon, I made a salad and we enjoyed baked potatoes from the microwave.  In the afternoon another friend came by and dropped off a berry pie, so it turned out to be a very tasty meal.  While we were eating the oven light began blinking and - power was restored!  I shut off the generator, removed the connections and switched everything back to the house circuits.  It took a little detective work to find out why the furnace wouldn't work but eventually things were back to normal.  I also learned that the double door to my garage is easier to lift by hand than it is to pull back down.   It was another 24 hours before the internet, the phone and cable were restored but that was minor compared to having lights again.
What did I learn about myself during this weather?  I don't like being alone in the dark.  I missed Neal so much it was painful and I haven't felt like that for several months.  I was grateful that he had insisted upon buying a big generator because it made my life easier.  I am grateful my house didn't sustain any damage with all that wind and ice.  I am so grateful for PSE crews who worked around the clock to restore power.  I am grateful for friends who checked on me, who fed me, and who reached out during that experience.
I am also grateful for cell phones.  Keeping in touch electronically was so important.  I hadn't realized how much time most days had been involved with checking email, friends' blogs and Facebook.  Being without them for a few days was tough especially in the dark because I felt so isolated.
I am grateful for simple things.