I have a newfound respect for our country's founders. They lived day in and day out without running water or electricity. They did not have DVD players, Wiis, the Internet, or cell phones. And yet, without all of these wonderful modern conveniences, they still managed to enjoy life. And they went to bed really, really early.
Why this newfound respect? Well, we just spent the past 3.5 days living in darkness. On Sunday around 2:00 p.m., the power went out, and it stayed out until 8:00 p.m. Wednesday. The remnants of Hurricane Ike merged with a powerful cold front, creating winds that swept through the area, topping 80 mph at the height of the storm. In case you are not familiar with the Saffir-Simpson scale, those are Category 1 hurricane-force winds. As a result, trees were felled and power lines were snapped. Shingles were ripped from roofs. Windows were broken and fences toppled. I have lived in Ohio my whole life and I have never seen anything like this.
It was interesting being without power for several days and having small children. It was fun for the first day and then it became less fun very quickly. There are only so many board games you can play or pictures you can color before you start to get restless and bored (I'm talking about the kids here). They played outside--A LOT. Meals were interesting too. All of our food spoiled, so we lived those days purely on non-perishables (I may never eat another peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the rest of my life!). Pop-Tarts and muffins for breakfast. PB&J's for lunch. Something on the grill for dinner. I actually heated a pan of water on our grill one day so that I could warm up some of Natalie's food. I was impressed with my ingenuity! Who knew you could make macaroni and cheese on the grill?
The kids were real troopers throughout the entire ordeal. They rarely complained and they seemed to make the best out of a not-so-great situation. I guess that's kids for you, though. They are so adaptable. I tried as hard as I could to keep their daily routine as normal as possible, despite the fact that Matthew and Ryan's schools were closed and we had no alarm clock in the morning (unless you count Natalie!). We tried really hard to have fun, although I must say that by Wednesday I was ready to check into a hotel!
So that is what has been going on in the Schreck house for the past several days! Everything is back to normal now. Matthew and Ryan are back in school and I am back to work. I really don't think I have ever been so grateful for electricity, though. We realized just how much we take it for granted!
Oh, and in other (very important) news, Miss Natalie is walking! She has been working on it for the past couple of weeks now and she is doing so well. It is hard to believe that in just a little over two weeks, she will be turning 1. That's a whole other post.
3 comments:
That's very interesting! Living in the boonies here, our power goes out a LOT but never for more than a few hours at a time. I cannot imagine 3 days. What an adventure!
It's so cool that Natalie's walking. I'll have to video chat with you all soon so I can see her in action!
Wow, Natalie can wake the household when the power's out AND she's walking? She's well on her way to being a full-fledged rooster...
(except for the whole female thing)
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