Friday, February 27, 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009 - 4 comments

Top Ten Things to Do During a Power Cut


Out here in the village, we are pretty used to water cuts. (I swear during the fall there were maybe five days we actually had water the entire day.) You kinda just have to plan ahead, store up buckets for showers, learn to live with piles of dishes on the counter, flush only when necessary, and have the washing machine loaded and ready to go for the minute the water comes back on, cuz who knows when it will be off again.

But these days, it seems like if the water's not off, the power is. Especially on rainy days. I don't know if it's the wires getting wet or what, but when it rains, it is pretty much a given that you'll be losing electricity at some point soon. Tonight was no exception. My first reaction to thunder is to smile, cuz I LOVE thunderstorms, and then to get out the candles.

Power outages, to me, are just part of the "charm" of living here (that is, when I am not in the middle of working on the website!) and are catalysts for adventure. Here are a few of my favourite "Blackout Boredom Busters."

1. Eat up all the ice cream in the freezer...to save it from melting, of course.

2. Watch an episode of 24 on the laptop and pray the battery doesn't die before Jack does.....Oh, wait. Jack never dies.

3. Roast weenies over a candle. (Did this one tonight....woulda been better if the hot dogs here were yummier, but it still made me happy!)

4. Put a flashlight in your mouth and puff out your cheeks and look in the mirror. Cracks me up every time.

5. Go around to all the neighbours and make scary noises outside their windows. (I have yet to try this, but it sounds highly amusing!)

6. Text your friend in America to have her Facebook your friend in Scotland who you were supposed to have a Skype date with to tell her your power is out and you'll have to postpone. (This happened to me tonight, too! Gotta love technology.)

7. Lie on the roof and look at the stars. (Not in the winter, of course.)

8. Be thankful you have a gas stove and make some sahlep (hot cinnamony milk drink) in a pot.

9. Hope that no cats sneak in the front door when you open it to see if anyone else has power. I speak from experience.

10. Read Leviticus by candlelight. (Did this one last week.....even infectious diseases and treatments for mildew are more romantic when there are candles involved!)

4 comments:

You are one of a kind Jamie Lee! This is a highly amusing list you've got going here.......... :)
So fun!

This comment has been removed by the author.

i LOVE this and can COMPLETELY relate! in India the power went of at least 4 times a week if not more! and we always came up with fun amusing things to do in the dimness of candlelight! :)
(ps the deleted comment was me writing this under ginas name so i had to change it!)

I like seeing that T-shirt quilt - it does something warm and tickly to my tummy.