Tech Age to Stone Age in a matter of 70 mph winds
- col-teri-stein
- May 8, 2025
- 565
We’ve been pretty lucky the past few years with no significant power outages in our neighborhood. But our number was up when a 70 mph storm blew through last week.
I had taken cover with the cats, my phone and my writing computer in the basement when the power flickered, went off, flickered on again and finally went off for good. We went right from the Tech Age to the Stone Age.
Left behind were flipped-over patio furniture and bits of roofing and debris from somewhere including a jagged piece of a 45-rotations-per-minute vinyl record. There were lots of branches and a big, snake-like vine of poison ivy that once wrapped its length around a tree. I picked up the branches but stopped at that vine and decided to go into the house.
That storm was really bad timing because I had a busy writing week planned. I also had returned some library books unread, thinking I’d never have time to read them.
I was already feeling bad because the robin’s nest that was carefully built in my flowering quince bush was totally gone. There was no trace of it at all, and those robins will probably not be back.
Now here I was computerless, mostly internetless and with just enough generator power to survive but not be truly comfortable.
Then I realized getting through a power outage was a lot easier when my life didn’t revolve around the internet.
If I’m working, I need the internet. The programs I use are online, and most of my files are online too. If I need to do some extra research when working, I just ask a question online and the information is there.
It used to be we had lots of magazines and newspapers around to read, but they have all moved online. Most of the news I read is online. There are so many sources.
If I’m relaxing, I’m on the internet checking what my family and friends are up to on social media. I also like to play solitaire online to relax and keep my brain engaged.
What about the weather? Are we having another 70 mph storm? I hope not, but I’m checking that online.
I never miss a couple of favorite television shows each week, and I’m streaming them to my TV. Of course, this storm moved in hours before my favorite Tuesday night show, and the outage hung around long enough to miss part of my favorite Wednesday night show.
Our power was out about 28 hours, but it seemed like a week. So here I am, pretty much snoozing the day away with no internet and no library books and no life. We could have been doing some serious storm cleanup, but not until the power gets back on. We are not working up a sweat. We have limited hot water in an outage, and it was growing colder by the minute.
During the outage I did get in more visits with the neighbors, which was nice. I went to sleep early and woke up earlier, which was nice. And I got back to writing this column with pen and paper, which was nice.
It’s just that now I’m used to doing everything a different way, and I want that way back. Or, at least, I wish I had kept those library books for an extra week.
Finally, a big shoutout to all the people who helped get our power back in a relatively short time compared to the damage that was done. Near our home there were three to four crews at a time working for a six-hour stretch to get trees cleaned up and wires reconnected. Camping out in the house for a while is doable for us, but there are many people with serious health issues relying on electric power to operate devices that allow them to live at home. It makes a huge difference, so thank you power workers. It is much appreciated.