Keep calm (and some candles nearby)
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- November 25, 2020
- 705
For most of their histories, houses have lived without power. Their only source of light was the sun and the moon.
Then candles came into being, and a lucky house had a bit of light piercing its darkness. In modern times electricity was discovered, and houses rejoiced. They had a dependable way to keep darkness at bay — dependable, at least, until something disturbed that modern power and houses were plunged once again into darkness. A wise and experienced occupant always kept a few candles at hand for such emergencies.
Our house suffered a power outage several days ago. She was shocked as her lights went out and her furnace quit. Fortunately, it was during the day and enough light came in through the windows to make the lighting of candles unnecessary. It did get to be a bit chilly before power was restored.
Now our house is nervous about her power source. She wants backup installed immediately. Unfortunately, generators are expensive, especially considering power loss isn’t a regular occurrence. But our house is not happy and gets the trembles when a storm approaches. And as everyone knows, a nervous house is rather uncomfortable to inhabit. We indulged her by getting some facts about solar power but found it wasn’t the right thing for her. What to do?
The answer is simple: Abandon this house to her fears and buy another one. It is a coward’s way out, but she has left us with no choice. We either continue to live in a nervous house or find a newer, calmer place to reside. Realistically, even a newer, calmer house is subject to the occasional power outage.
I suppose we must consider solar power or an expensive generator is waiting in our future.