power outage way out here in the mountains, which means that i get the generator going and we run everything off a few extension cords. we do internet first, being the people we are, but then we concentrate on heat as it gets cold quickly, and food, as you can't live without it. if it goes on into nightfall we bring sleeping bags into the main house so we can all stay warm on one heater.

in any case we are all huddled together in the main house. we could run the heavy extension to the hunter's bunkhouse and we run one anyway for internet. if it comes to night we all find our ways to stay warm. but the generator is strained by the heaters themselves which use up a lot of power, and it's better to limit it to two and internet.

meanwhile the guys get out to fix the power and it takes them maybe a few hours. we worry about whether it's just us or the whole valley and in this case it was the whole valley, plus across the mountain and up the highway, a whole swath of territory. it was some trunk line, but it affected enough hundreds that they got out there right away. actually to their credit they get out there right away anyway, the best they can; they're pretty good at it, and it still might take them a couple of hours. but we're ok with that. we have generator going and our orange cords.

it's a small little house, and the christmas tree takes up a quarter of the living room, even though it was the smallest one they'd sell us. and its lights were off, needless to say, and the cold wind blowing the trees all over the valley. it wasn't that cold though - maybe forty and sinking, down to about thirty two now. i made a gamble that they'd have it fixed in a couple of hours and they did. my wife said, no gambling, we have to be prepared, and she made me hook up the heater before it was too late. she fixed a microwave dinner for everyone though. microwave on the extension, extra things heated up, all wrapped up in burritos. we sat around gabbing and then after i hooked up the heat, we gabbed in relative comfort. of course everyone had their phones; we had the internet.

my wife found out through facebook that the whole valley was out, and that wss good news, because i think the main lines are easier to fix than when some tree falls on some smaller line way out in the forest. that's just my theory though. i really have no idea what those guys go through when they head out on their trucks full of wires, and they locate the break, and make a fix, and run power back to the valley. no idea. i admire them a lot because there's no way i'd be doing that in a blizzard.

somewhere tonight, it's hannukah, and the first candles are being lit. we lit ours, out here, out of necessity, not even being jewish. i thought about that, though, what it's like to be on your own holiday schedule, to light a candle for the times one actually has no light. we had our light - it was from a generator, and small battery-operated flashlights - and orange extension cords. it all worked out. and now we've all gone back to our little corner of the compound, and the puppy got back on my lap. the christmas tree lights are back too. and i hope that wind doesn't pick up more; it's not something i look forward to.