no school today

There’s a certain amount of nostalgia when we remember the past and the way things were in the past. How many times have we told our children about the “good ‘ol days” and even said: “when I was your age” only to realize that they don’t quite understand what we are talking about. It’s one thing to hear about how things were done, and quite another to actually experience it. This week, my girls were able to do more than simply imagine what it was like in the past before electricity. In fact, we rudely found out when heavy wet snow crippled our area. We live in the Hudson Valley between two ski mountains so we’re used to snow. The difference this time, was that we experienced several days of non-stop, heavy, wet, snow. As a result, most of the region lost power. That’s how my daughters were able to experience the good ‘ol days without electricity.

At first ,my oldest was thrilled that school was canceled. My daughters played outside burying each other in the snow. Things were fine until the sun started going down. That’s when the lack of electricity started to sink in. Our fireplace was working overtime keeping us warm. We heated up soup for dinner, played “Go Fish” by candlelight and called it an early night. The second day was a little harder than the first. We managed to have a fulfilling breakfast but realized that doing the dishes became a family event. Between boiling the water, cleaning and drying all the dishes, the task took a fair amount of time. We went for a walk around lunch, shoveled and played in the snow. I must admit that the pace of things slowed down. We ate in front of the fireplace and played cards again in the evening. We talked about what it must have been like living in our area 100 years ago and how small tasks required much more effort. We also talked about the earthquake in Haiti and how people were managing the hardship.

The power outage lasted 3 days. As a result of that situation, I think that my children have a new understanding of how things were done in the past and a better appreciation for many things that they have taken for granted such as electricity.

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