I'm in DC all weekend for a conference (more on that later). It's Sunday afternoon. Calls from home are coming in from the boys. Then from Mom. Big winds. Really big. Power out. Trees down. Stay in DC another night, they say. We don't want you flying home in this. (Ugghh. I want my bed. Sneaky Pete. My boys. To be in control of my transportation. To quit having to smile and be social. A Starbucks iced tea. To be done with my flight anxiety. To be home.)So, I just read my magazine on the sunny patio of the hotel, overlooking the beautiful Potomac. And I wait. Periodically, I go check my flight status on the hotel computer. On time. No delays. So, I wait some more. (Needing a nap. Or that iced tea.) Then I take a cab to Reagan. I learn that my home airport had been closed. Earlier flights cancelled. Mine is still on time. The flight is smooth until we begin our descent. A big bump startles me out of my Country Living-induced temporary comfort. The friendly elderly man next to me (window seat) is looking for lights below. I keep asking him, "See anything yet?" It's foggy. We're rockin'. "See anything yet?" There they are. "Okay, if we fell from here--we would probably survive," I think. Wheels down. Phone on. T has left a message. Still no power at home. Estimated 200,000 area homes without.
It's late. People are all over the airport who didn't get to fly out earlier, sleeping in chairs. Long lines at the shuttles. I pick up my car and head home. Ahhh, driving again. All the traffic lights are out. Big limbs down. I make it home in record time, with many detours due to downed trees and directions from the boys. (What did we ever do before cell phones?) Finally home. Candles out. Cool breeze coming in the windows. Absolute quiet outside and in.
The power remains out for more than 24 hours ... for us. One street over has power. A few local businesses do. The next morning, K & I venture out to three stores looking for ice for the cooler. People stand, looking confused in the grocery aisles ... rethinking ... 'what can I eat/cook?' Gas has jumped 50 cents per gallon in a day. Stores are sold out of flashlights, ice, juice, batteries, candles. Note to self: buy one of those crank flashlight/radios to have on hand. We score a bag of ice. Ice + gas stove + tea bag = iced tea. We have candles, a car/phone charger. A day off. K & I lunch at home together. With nowhere to go or nothing electronic to do, he has time to chat ... and even listen as I read aloud an article about a family of beekeepers in the Gourmet magazine I picked up at a meeting. Later, he goes to play board games (!) at a friend's house.
Megs and kids stop by. Haven't seen them and enjoyed this kind of time with them in months. We pick tomatoes, make Sneaky Pete dance for Cheerios and "spot" the Divine Miss M's living room back bends. K and I meet Mom for supper.
Everywhere I go, people are sharing their primitive living adventures. Many then add..."but I don't really mind." I just smile, thinking about the crickets that sang me to sleep last night ... the unhurried chats I savored with loved ones over the past 24 hours ... and thanking God for this simplicity.
