The Simple Life

Some mornings it got a little chilly.

Coleman made signs to remind all of us of the rules.

On Sunday our Bishop announced during Relief Society that a "Disaster" had struck. He asked us all to reach into a bowl and pick our disaster --either no water, eat nothing besides food storage, or no electricity for 72 hours. I drew out no electricity and I think we fared very well, though I had to cheat a few times. Here are a few of the things I learned:

Lesson 1: I love dark nights (not the movie). For some reason, it was so peaceful to come inside at night and only have a lantern to pray around, to brush your teeth by, and to read by. I thought I would need way more candles than I did. But it WAS light outside until 9:00, I guess! There was no news that Cam and I could watch. We had to just go to bed. When I left the kids' rooms with the lantern or flashlight, everything was dark and they fell asleep much faster--no hall lights or bathroom lights left on. There was no computer that sucked me in to check email and no blog posts to write or read. Even these things, I noticed, keep my kids awake at night. When Cam and I went into our room to talk, we whispered and realized that our being awake for so long after the kids, keeps them awake. I really enjoyed the peaceful, quiet nights and kind of want to pick a few nights a week during the Spring and Summer, where we do leave everything unplugged. Is that too eccentric?

Our wonderful sources of light. The hand-crank flashlights were awesome. No batteries needed.

Lesson #2: I need a non-electric can opener that works. Mine was pathetic against that tuna can and so I immediately threw it in the garbage. I had to cheat and plug in the can opener because I just HAD to make that tuna sandwich for Cam.

Lesson #3: Dishwashers, flat irons, and hair dryers are God's gift to women. After 72 hours, and many hat days, I realized what a bad hair day is really all about.

Lesson #4: With mounds of dishes to do by hand, I hadn't realized that I would need a good supply of dish soap. I found the dishwasher WAS a good place to let the dishes air dry.

Lesson #5: My cordless phones were out of commission, but I was happy to have one old fashioned phone in the house.

Lesson #6: Make sure your kids have more than one pair of clean pants before disaster strikes. Cy had to wear very dirty pants to school for 72 hours as I didn't realize his other four pairs of pants were in the wash which I could not do until Wednesday afternoon.

Lesson #7: I need a generator. Of course, we didn't unplug our refrigerators, but if there really had been no power, all of my meat and other foods would have been lost. My blender was a long lost friend and that part about killed me. I couldn't make smoothies or dressings or anything. In a disaster situation, my blender would really help me keep my sanity while I am sucking on wheat berries.

Lesson #8: I need propane for my barbeque. Sure, I have a way to cook outside, but no propane tank to run it.

Lesson #9: My little gas stove burner thing was a great buy! This was only 20 bucks and it has come so in handy. I actually have two of them. I could make eggs, toast, oatmeal, rice, noodles, quesadillas, anything on this and it is easy to store, to use and to have. I was very happy about my little burner. The only sad thing is, dinner takes forever because you can only make one thing at a time. Oh well, patience is a virtue.

Practicing guitar in the early morning by lantern.

Lesson #10: My salads don't have to be cooked. I was pleasantly surprised that eating as many veges as I do now that most of my personal meals were the exact same with or without electricity.

The kids ran home on Wednesday, because I told them they could watch a show at 3:00 when the elecricity "returned." Cy was happy that the "Big joke" (Earlier he said to me, "Mom, can't we just stop the big joke? Everyone knows the lights still work.") was over. But as they all separated and ran to their electronic friends, I got kind of sad. I think I was meant to be a pioneer.