Unplugged

Deep in the night after the heavy snow, there was a sound much like lightening then a boom somewhat akin to thunder. Again,~and yet again. As I lay there, I realized it was the sound of branches breaking under the weight of the snow and falling into the deepening snow beneath. I listened. Once again, the trees were being pruned. The weak branches that survived the winds of November were now yielding to the sheer weight of winter.
With the falling branches, came downed power lines and life as we knew it ended~ suspended for a week. Powerless. We gathered ourselves as a family and met the challenge with creativity and humor. We are fortunate to have a wood stove and a generator; we are even more fortunate to have a sense of life unplugged as not such a bad thing. We worked harder for the ordinary things so long taken for granted. We melted snow for water to heat in large pots on the wood stove for bathing; redefining showering together as my husband poured the steaming water over my soapy head and I returned the favor when it was his turn. Shivering, laughing, enjoying the simplest of pleasures.
I felt a twinge of regret as our power was restored this evening. For a week, we lived as a family totally connected. Unplugged from TV, computers, radios ~ Needing one another for amusement. Enjoying one another through the storm. The real challenge is to find this intimacy without the snow, without the loss of electricity. Are we up to it?