It was just past 4:30am. I know because I had just turned off my alarm clock and rolled back over to bury my head in my pillow. The fire from the pellet stove glowed and flickered. Then I heard an annoying beep coming from the pellet stove. When I lifted my head I saw the fire dying. Out of pellets. Must've been a really cold night.
I decided to let it go for a minute, but then it beeped again. I glanced back at my alarm clock and saw there was no power to it. Hmmm, electricity must've gone out. This happens fairly often in the winter. We need underground lines. My pellet stove needs electricity to run. I figured the wood stove in the dining room was probably down to its last coal. I was right. I piled some wood in and got it going again. I found a big jar candle and lit it and placed it in the kitchen.
Coffee. I would need some coffee. Stove is electric. Microwave is electric. My Jetboil is at work. Woodstove. I've never attempted to boil water on the woodstove before. I set the pot on top of it and made sure the wood was burning hot. I left it for a moment to go make my bed.
It took awhile for the water to boil, I think mostly because the stove had cooled down quite a bit overnight, but it finally did and I poured it into my French Press and a bowl of Irish Oatmeal. I went about getting ready to go to the gym (after I checked online and verified that Yreka had power). It was slow going getting ready by candle light. I still had hot water in the water heater, so that was nice.
My oatmeal was cold again by the time I had gotten to it and it had too much water in it. Normally I would throw it in the microwave, but that wouldn't be happening this time. I wondered if it was ok to put it on top of the woodstove. Only one way to find out.
I put it on top of the stove and stood there trying to stir it around. It was pretty hot trying to stand over that thing and stir. After about a minute I gave up and picked it up off the stove. The sides weren't all that warm and I put my hand under the bottom to hold it better...and burned my finger. It blistered. I quickly put the bowl down on the carpet and lay there in front of the woodstove eating my oatmeal. It was quite a bit warmer. And so was my finger.
When I finally got to the gym, there was a lady in the locker room washing her hair in the sink. There's a couple showers right there, so I'm not sure why she was using the sink. To explain herself she said the power was out in Montague. I told her that's where I just came from. She told me how she's on a well (her water comes from a well, not city supply). For those of you who don't know, water has to be pumped out of the well and into the house by electric pump. You no longer have to lower a bucket into the well and carry it to the house. Those days are gone. Anyway, so no electricity means no pump and no pump means no water. At all. That's a bummer.
So during a power outage, not only do I have the means to heat my house (woodstove), I also have an endless supply of water and the means to cook food. If my food in the freezer starts to thaw, I only have to place it outside where it will be kept nice and cool. I would only have to protect it from critters. I'm pretty proud of myself. Who needs electricity?
Speaking of critters. Went on a 9 mile run today at work. Saw a ton of bear tracks and bear scat. Fresh (the tracks and scat both). Scat is poo, people. Bear scat = bear poo. On the road I was running on.... all alone. Tomorrow I shall bring my radio on my 5 mile run so I can call dispatch and let them know I've been attacked by a bear and am bleeding to death and to please send help. It was a paranoid run to say the least.
My power is back on, my house is warm and I am sleepy. I think I may cancel my shower for the night being as I will be the only person at work tomorrow. Showers are overrated.
Added note: I now realize that the title of this post probably made some of you think "Power outage? So what?" I forgot to elaborate that it was 20 degrees out. There's certain climates that power outages can be dangerous and that would be very cold and very hot climates. I would say 20 degrees with sub-par insulation can be scary. It reminds me that not everyone has a non-electrical means of heat. I didn't when I lived in Yreka and my heater broke. In the middle of winter it was 50 degrees in my house until someone came and fixed it. There was nothing I could do but wear a jacket at all times. A down coat inside your house. Consider that.
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