Yesterday it was stormy here and our power went out as we were in the kitchen making breakfast. (Actually it went on and off a few times before going out altogether.) Jeff brought out two lanterns from the pantry and cooked our breakfast on the wood stove, which gave us all a feeling of excitement and adventure. When the electricity goes out it can be inconvenient, especially when we have a lot to accomplish that day that relies on it, but yesterday we felt a bit celebratory. It was a Sunday and having the power go out made us feel like we were on vacation from many of our regular responsibilities, thinking ‘I guess we won’t be able to work today…’  (Of course there was plenty of work that we could still be doing, but that can be easily forgotten.)

It reminded me of the feeling I had when I was a kid and it was a snow day, with school getting cancelled. It felt like a free day, an extra day. We all declared what we wanted to do. Jeff wanted to lay in bed and read his book all day. I wanted to knit all day. Bracken wanted to put on dance performances in the living room and have our undivided attention. I got settled down on the couch with some knitting and Jeff and Bracken got started on a puzzle, something they’ve been enjoying doing together lately.

The electricity was only out for a few hours in the morning and then it came back on. Normally there would be cheering, as we’d all be happy to have electricity again (and especially running water once more), but this time we were all a bit disappointed and I said “Can we just turn the lights off and pretend the electricity is still out?” We all had smiles and the idea was quite appealing. We ended up leaving the lights on, but Jeff did read a few pages of his book (before falling asleep for a nap), I did quite a bit of knitting throughout the day, and Bracken danced for us. We did it with the convenience of running water, lights, and a working kitchen, though, which was admittedly very nice.

This morning we awoke to hail on the ground and Bracken collected some. We didn’t get any snow here this winter, so he was pretty excited about the hail, he’ll take what he can get. It’s Monday and we’re back in the swing of things again. It sure was fun having that “extra” time yesterday, but we like getting back into the groove again too.