Hi guys! I thought I’d write about my experience during Hurricane Sandy when the power went out for weeks.
My family stayed in our house for a few days. The days were filled with the thin, reedy light of the winter sun, and the evenings filled with a dim, candlelit darkness. The darkness was sinister and intimidating. The candles only gave out a small amount of light, and I was always afraid that someone was hiding around each and every corner. Amazingly, the lack of light shortened our days. We always went to bed at 8 or 9 o’clock, because we could do very little without power and without sunlight. Everything in the refrigerator slowly spoiled, so we had to live on the snacks my parents had bought from the supermarket in anticipation of losing power. We have well water, which runs on electricity, so there wasn’t any running water, either. The thing I remember the most, though, was the cold. The whole house was just constantly chilly. At night, the temperature dropped swiftly, and I’d climb into a frigid bed, the blankets as cold as ice. In the morning, the only thing that wasn’t freezing cold was where I’d wrapped the blankets around myself. I would reluctantly climb out of the only warmth and shiver as I walked down the stairs. We couldn’t even go outside and play because of the cold, and we could only read by day because our flashlights and candles didn’t provide enough light at night, though I had a kindle, so I could read when I wanted to as long as it had battery. When my dad managed to generate electricity by letting the car run idle in the garage, all of us would gather around the single power strip connected to the car, plugging in chargers in every available slot as our electronics slowly regained battery life with the intermittent power. After putting up with this for a few days, we got out of the house and spent nights at friends’ houses that luckily did not lose power. It was sort of like being a refugee, always only staying a day or two at the same house. I couldn’t even enjoy the pleasure of no school! Finally, on November 4th, the day after my birthday, our power came back on! It was such a relief! Everything worked properly! The house was actually warm for once! It was a bliss. I wasn’t even mad about going to school the next day. It was an amazing feeling.
Iced Tea With Vinegar 