I always had a fascination with days gone by. I love watching Little House on the Prairie reruns and often wish I lived in those days when life was carefree and simple.
Screeching halt…
I wish TV didn’t romanticize those days. Because you know, I just went 4 entire days without electricity. We made do with a Coleman stove and lantern, lots of candles, and a heater but it was anything but simple and carefree.
As a matter of fact, I was fairly miserable.
My usually warm bed was freezing. I had to sleep with so many layers of clothing that I once I got into a position I had to stay there because moving was too difficult. I woke up to an even colder house. And the bathrooms? Oh my, a cold bathroom is the worst. How would I ever survive if I had to use an outhouse?
Never mind that all of my beautiful meals I had stored up in the freezer were useless without an oven. So we lived on soup, grilled cheese and more soup and grilled cheese.
I also had no idea what was going on in the world, which I thought would be a welcome relief but turns out that knowing what goes on in the world comes in mighty handy. I can’t believe all the things that happen in this world in just a few days.
Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for the few comforts we did have. I mean it was kind of awesome to have all of us huddled in the living room under blankets reading instead of ipods and TV going. I learned I can read a lot of stuff by candle light four nights in a row. My husband was amazing at working tirelessly to keep his whining grateful family warm and fed.
But I have learned that I do like my modern comforts, like the use of an indoor refrigerator and oven. And a warm toilet seat. An even warmer bed. Did I mention being able to do laundry in the washing machine is a blessing? I have loads of it to catch up, and boy am I grateful I am not going down to the creek to wash them all by hand! I don’t know if I will ever groan again about having to wash clothing in my handy dandy electric, mechanical, do it all for me washing machine.
Maybe…
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Ah, how I miss that life! When I was a teen, I lived in the sticks…no running water, no power, an outhouse, and wood heat! There were challenges of course, but I do miss it.
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Wow – and we just thought we had it bad just because it was so cold. But I do remember the times in Miami when I was growing up and the hurricanes took out the power – best family time ever. Still can remember the cans of sterno and candles and Monopoly games.
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I have memories of having no power to heat the water as a child. My parents still live in the same house, but no longer use the old woodfired stove, or the ‘copper’ in their outside bathroom to heat the water of the fire. Just the sound of warm bathrooms and toilet seats makes me feel like what I’m living with is archaic! I was thinking through what we would be able to use in our house if the power was out. We could use our gas oven, and thats about it. We do have camping gear – camp oven, shower etc so that would be fun for a short while. In my hubbies previous marriage they had to use the camp shower for a few weeks at one point as the bathroom reno went all wrong LOL! Ex-Mrs made friends with the next door neighbour very quickly!
Wow…The last time I experienced that was 11 yrs. ago when I only had one child, she was 11 months old with a raging ear infection. We lived in Va. and had no power for 9 days. Same situation with the well…it wasn’t too bad the first 48 hours…kinda like an adventure. The adventure quickly turned into a nightmare. Taking a shower for the first time in 9 days was absolutely the most amazing shower ever. It almost felt indulgent! Anyway, I’m glad your power is back and you have the ability to ‘indulge’ in some laundry!
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We have lots of blackouts (South Africa) there is just more demand than supply of electricity! We had friends from the UK over and they thought it was so romantic – the hotel lit by candles etc… I was able to fill them in on the reality… it takes ten times longer to do anything and it is impossible to drive in a city with every stoplight “out”… We have got used to it and I get a lot of stuff done around the house that I wouldn’t normally do – AAAAh the pro’ s and cons of any situation!!!
It takes me about 5 minutes of power outage to realize how I would not cope well out on the prairie. One step into a dark room and the reflexive reach for the light switch when I know it won’t come on is all it takes. Of course if we had lived then we wouldn’t know any better, so it’s all hypothetical. But I do try to remember how blessed we are with our conveniences. My personal favorite is my oven that heats precisely to the temperature I want it to be and stays there without me having to feed it wood – and has a cool to the touch exterior to keep my two year olds safe from burns when they carelessly touch in spite of my warnings.
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Considering I loathe all things “rustic,” I am not a fan of those old shows. I will say that camping is fun for a couple days because you do get to bond with the family. After that, bring on the creature comforts!
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yeah, I’ve been re-doing my bathroom so without a toilet or sink near the bedrooms and part of my laundry room…I really love my creature comforts. love love love. I have never loved camping or outdoorsy stuff…
Yeah-any time I start to think “romantically” about those days gone by, I just remember what CAMPING is like & I leave my dream world!
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I, too, thought that I would be able to do well without electricity & all the trappings of the modern world. Then the freak snowstorm in October shut down our power for 3 days. I could handle everything – but the bathrooms. When the power is out – so is our well. That means no running water which is ok b/c I had bottled water. No showers & baths – that was fine. The biggest problem was the toilet! Good thing that I live with a bunch of boys & they know how to find a good bush (even in the snow).
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