Having a wood only heat source certainly limits the temperature in most of the house. The living room are 67 degrees which was pleasant if that was the only room. However the bedrooms and bathroom are ice. Running through lighters and running out of candle has been tough, stores are out of stock due to the outage.
Those who are fortunate enough to have the luxury of a generator are now contemplating how and when to service it while keeping essential appliances running. The generator powering our house and our two neighbors makes it possible to keep food from spoiling while also giving us entertainment; to watch movies to pass by the long hours of the never-ending 24 hour day.
The weather has stayed calm yet cold throughout this past week and this morning Spokane awoke to snow, with the temperatures below normal. Households will have to keep a strong fire going at all times to keep the house relatively warm now that winter has officially begun.
I have been struggling with the fact that it has been a week of NO power. Linemen are working around the clock trying to get power back on and my family is still making dinners at friend’s houses and sitting in the cold with candles as our only light source. With everything running low, patience is running thin.
Although the week has certainly been rough going, there have been some positive notes to come from this experience as well. Without the mind-melting and ever addicting cable box in order, my family has had to come to terms that talking to each other isn’t so bad after all. Sharing our thoughts, (good and bad), talking through the dark nights of random subjects while awaiting the satisfactory hum of electricity to come back online hasn’t been too terribly scary after all.
What I have learned this week! From a practical point of view – you can never have too many candles, matches, or basic necessities in a crisis, as all of us are using the same items. Stores, even if they are open, run out of everything!!! But mostly, I’ve learned, however difficult the storm may make our lives, it’s important to remember all of the blessings we’ve been given and focus on those instead.