Today I emailed back and with a friend from high school days who currently lives in Dubuque, Iowa. He mentioned that he was supposed to be in Des Moines today for a presentation (he works for the ACT people) and a second presentation tomorrow. He said it looked like both would be cancelled due to the winter storm warning that was declared. The weather nerds are saying 18-24 inches for a good part of the state, including Des Moines and Dubuque. This information brought to mind our local (Upstate South Carolina) winter storm a few days ago and how my long-suffering wife and I survived being 30 hours without electricity. At first, it was an adventure. Fortunately, we had plenty of propane for our gas logs, so the front of our cozy cottage stayed comfortable. We shut off the gas logs that first night and retreated to our bedroom. We woke up the next morning raid to extend ourselves from the warmth of the bed. No wonder. When I checked the thermostat, it read 49 degrees. Indoors. I nearly sprained my ankle running for the remote control thingy that fires up the gas logs.
During the day, we entertained ourselves reading by the light of the sun. When it grew dark, I broke out the Coleman lanterns I had wanted for Christmas. Also, I unpackaged the Coleman stop and fuel that were part of my Christmas gifts. So we had hot food. If we were to have a son, I would name him Coleman. I am not kidding.
I was thinking how fun this was, you know, camping and enjoying "roughing it," yet staying indoors protected from any snakes and bugs that weren't frozen. We had plenty of wine, cheese, bread, and several other goodies, and so the romance maintained. When it got dark, we scooted for bed and flipped on the Coleman lanterns to read by for a while as we snuggled.
All this time, our young pit bull/terrier rescue canine was loving it, running out in the snow and leaping and biting the white stuff, then turning on the afterburners to race back to the front porch and inside to hang out in front of the fireplace. She thought it was romantic, too.
The electricity returned just before dark on Saturday night, but we still weren't able to get out due to the snow on the ice on our upward-inclined driveway. Not to mention all the trees down in our neighborhood, blocking roads. So we just settled in some more, but with the delights of electricity.
And hot water. Without it, romance can fade quickly. Trust me on that one.
