Snow and Coffee

The snow started to fall exactly as predicated at 7 AM yesterday morning. It continued all day and was still falling when I went to bed.

The electricity went out at 12:40 this morning. I know because the monitor started beeping telling me that the base was off.  I have the base sitting unobtrusively under my father’s night stand so I can hear if he gets up or if he falls.

In the fog of sleep, I couldn’t figure out how to stop the beeping. The landline phone also beeped, telling me that the base was off. At least it gave me a message, but the baby monitor just kept beeping.

I pushed a few buttons on the side — one of them had to work. I sat on the edge of my bed holding the monitor and let the fog in my brain clear. Finally, I turned on the light to find the power button and turn the unit off.

Too awake to fall back asleep, I lay in bed thinking about the problems of no electricity.

❄ — No coffee.

❄ — No water. The well pump runs on electricity.

❄ — No flushing the toilet. I reminded myself that I needed to remind Mary and Laurel about this. No water means no flushing the toilet. Ugh.

❄ — No coffee. My mind came back to this fact indicating the seriousness of this situation.

❄ — No internet. The girls use the internet for their classes, but I could email their teachers on my phone. Or take them to the library, assuming that the library has electricity.

❄ — Where are the candles? It would still be dark when I got up for my morning coffee (dang — no coffee) and quiet time. I would have to use candles to read. I remembered that I had two candlesticks on the hutch in the dining room that we use (very) occasionally for dinners. Matches were in the cupboard by the sink in the kitchen.

❄ — Limit refrigerator usage. My mind was in the kitchen, getting the matches, and I noticed the refrigerator. It’s not as bad as in the summer when the electricity goes out because in February we have the free refrigeration of the snow outside. I could get my half-and-half out, but, darn it all….

❄ — No coffee. Coffee is an essential part of my morning routine.

My last thought as I drifted back to sleep was about calling my brother. He delivers newspapers in town and has gotten coffee for me other times at the convenience store when the electricity has been out.

I woke up at 5:13 AM. The electricity was on. Hallelujah.

I made my coffee and sat down to read.

The phone rang around 6 AM. It was my brother, checking to see if the electricity had come back on. He offered to get me coffee.

I’m not sure how much snow we got. A foot? A little more? It’s still falling.

And it really is quite pretty.

Until it starts to mess with my coffee.