Grateful

We woke this morning to the sound of the fan going off, the fan resuming and the printer going through its paces, and then both falling silent again. The still-dark morning showed no storm, no wind, nothing that would cause a power outage.

We live in a small house, heated with a wood stove. Leaving means shutting the house down, turning the water off, and flushing all the lines. Which requires an air compressor. Which requires power. We had saved printing our itineraries, and copying our passports until this morning. Cooking breakfast would have to wait or would happen over the wood stove.

We rose and dug our head lamps out of our packed bags. We lit candles and searched out the phone book to find the power company’s number. We loaded the wood stove and attended to the tasks we could accomplish by candlelight.

In general power outages in the US, with the exception of rare storm events, are brief. In under two hours, our lights were back on. But my mind, already en route to South America, realized how lucky we are to be able to take electricity for granted. It takes an interruption to shake us into awareness. We have so much: health, enough money to jump on a plane and travel for two months, and the leisure to do it. We have the support and well-wishes of friends and family. And so, for all I have, and all I will encounter, I embark suffused with humility and gratitude.