Something that is uppermost in a lot of people’s thoughts these days is the high cost of energy bills. We all moan about it but what if we do not have a good supply of electricity? Just ponder a while.
The other afternoon we had a power cut. We had had a few flickers early in the afternoon which was a nuisance, knocking out the computer, the TV etc, coupled with me trying to reset the clock on the cooker which is a feat in itself. Just after 3pm everything went off so I checked outside and heard several house alarms ringing from nearby properties so I knew it was not just my electricity supply and was grateful it was not something that I alone had to deal with.
About 4pm I checked on my phone and was informed that the supply would be restored by 5pm, just in time to cook dinner and heat the house for the evening . It was still light and so not much of an issue. Just after 5pm I checked again and it showed as power being restored by 7pm. By this time, it was closing in for the night and getting colder so lucky for me I have a nice log burner. I lit that and lit some candles. I went and had a bath aided by more candles and thought fine 7pm, not so bad. As the situation had not changed by 7pm, I checked again and it said power would be restored by 10pm.
Now by this time it was pitch black as there was not a light to be seen anywhere along the street. We always take for granted street lighting but of course this was affected too. The silence was eerie, the village is quiet enough usually but this was a strange silence. By this time, I was getting hungry and needed to eat. Stupidly I thought ‘I can’t cook what I had planned but I’ll have some soup.’ Well of course not so plumped for cheese and biscuits in the candlelight. I then started to realise my battery was low on my phone and panicked a bit which was silly because I could have just taken a ride in my car to charge the battery or even gone to my daughter’s in the next village.
Just sitting in a dark, silent room in front of a cosy fire for over 5 hours was disconcerting and thought provoking and not something I have experienced for a long time. I remember the power strikes of many years ago where we had planned cuts on several days but we were not so dependent on electricity then. As a child I grew up with no central heating and no shower, using only hot water bottles and coats on the bed to keep us warm. And we didn’t have a television until after the 1966 World Cup final as I remember watching it in the home of a neighbour so I was well over 10 years old. There were no computers and phones which rule our lives and boilers that run on apps either.
In the silence I thought about how dependent we are on electricity for a lot of our daily lives. We expect it, we rely on it, we moan about it and we take for granted that it will always be there at the flick of a switch. Just stop and think, where would you be if the supply was interrupted for any long period of time? About 9pm the lights came back on, the house phone pinged and my doorbell and alarm reset themselves. All was well in the world.
We do not realise how lucky we are and the effects are not apparent until we have lost it. That goes with all aspects of life, we take for granted a lot in this life and do not realise what we have until it is taken from us, so note to self don’t swear so much when my next electricity bill presents itself and be grateful we have a good supply network.
It is a dark, cold, lonely life sitting all alone in the dark without life, love, and electricity!
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