God Is I Am

In late spring when King and I arrived home from a work trip we found a dark house and no power. As I checked the refrigerator and freezer things were already melted and smelly. It is the downside of being away for a week.

Life changes when you have no power. Without music or the TV, the house was in total silence. Amazon’s Alexa no longer plays my radio stations. And working in the home office was much harder to do without internet. So hanging in the local library became a nice option but phone calls are a “no-no”. Phone calls are planned for in the car or at mom’s place since I have very bad reception at my house. A conscious plan must be made to charge electronics and at the worse I leave them charging in a running car.
The upside of the quietness is that time to pray and meditate, is more abundant. The birds chirping in the morning, heard through the open windows, are more pleasant than any alarm. They are joyful and welcoming to the new day. I laid in bed listening to them instead of thinking about emails.

Cooking for King was a challenge. I would visit mom’s home or a friend’s place just a few blocks away to cook. It got me back to the gym at least for a shower and an occasional work out.

I normally run the vacuum every day to get up the beautiful black dog hair that is everywhere. Instead, I took to using a rubber glove to lift it off the sheets that lays on top of the bed and on the sofa. It worked better than the vacuum on the carpeted steep, narrow, steps that lead up to the second floor. The vacuum never did a great job and was unusable on the pie slice shaped steps at the top. It felt dangerous trying to run the vacuum over the coarse rug on the steps. The handheld tools lacked the pull to get his hair without a fight. On the area rugs I use my rubber sole shoes to rub the hair into a pile. It amazes me how much hair gets bedded into the carpet weaving in such a short time.

Anything I eat is stored at room temperature while King’s food is stored in a cooler with ice. I have come up with a new favorite combination of peanut butter and pumpkin seeds. I found a big bag of pumpkin seeds in the cabinet when looking for food options. It is a delicious treat on a cracker or rice cake. It makes a great snack and can be a high protein meal.

Life is simpler without power, yet it is challenging to think of ways to handle daily routines that I took for granted. I am blessed to have support and places to crash when it is to hot or I need to cook for King. While there was a simplicity to the powerless routine, I am grateful the power returned as silently as it left. I am thankful for the blessings of family and my best friend!