Sharing My World 21

Share Your World – 2015 Week #10

When you lose electricity in a storm, do you light the candles or turn on the flashlight? How many of each do you own?

I have no idea where all the flashlights are in this house, although I know W has lots of them.  Candles are more my thing.  Most of those are on the fireplace mantle along with a box of wooden matches.  We have a barbecue lighter, which I hate, because it takes for flaming ever to fire unless someone besides me is using it.  I also have cigarette lighters which I use for lighting incense sticks.  It appears I am a fan of fire.  My phone is always close by if I need to light things up in a hurry.   Despite all this preparedness, the power rarely ever goes out here during a storm.  I honestly can’t remember the last time it happened.  However, that doesn’t stop me from sitting around with the lights out.  I love candlelight.

You are given $5,000 and the chance to exchange it for one of two envelopes. One envelope contains $50,000 and one contains $500. Do you make the trade? Why or why not?

I’m no gambler.  The odds are rarely in my favor.  I went to the horse races once and was thrilled to break even.  So no, I would not make the trade.  I would grab the five grand and run.

What’s your first memory?

I don’t trust that my very early memories are really my own, rather than stories I’ve been told.  I think I remember standing up in the back seat of a car behind my dad and seeing a gigantic animal wander across the road in front of us while the rest of the passengers (mom, brother, grandparents) exclaimed excitedly about it.  Several miles down the road I apparently said “Oh my, that was a very big mouse.”  Moose, mouse, big scary creature – it was all the same to me.  My mother told me I was two years old and couldn’t possibly have a memory of that, and she’s probably right.  But standing in the backseat behind my dad is something I know I did all the time.  It was the best way to travel for a kid who got motion sickness if she sat down and couldn’t see out the windows.  There were no seat belts or booster seats way back then.  There were some really big mice wandering around on the roads though.

What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something?

I read.  Until my eyes burn.  But falling asleep is normally easy for me.  If there’s too much going on in my head,  I think about breathing.  Not making myself take slow, deep breaths or anything, just being aware of the breaths I am taking and nothing else.  Inhaling, exhaling, relaxing.  It’s usually the last thing I remember.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m glad W had a good visit with his parents.  And yes, I’m glad he went on his own.  I’m glad I had some me time.  Well, who am I kidding, it’s ALL me time.  I’m grateful that I survived the trip to and from the airport in rush hour traffic yesterday.  Through various stretches of construction.  Going just over the speed limit and still being passed on both sides by idiots in a big hurry to die.  This morning I went to see my doctor to have my prescriptions renewed and to discuss the results of my recent tests.  And on the way home I stopped at Michael’s for some retail therapy.

My calendar is blank for next week, except for a notation that our middle granddaughter celebrates her tenth birthday on the 18th.

They’re growing up and we’re growing old.  And I’m grateful for both of those things.

When the Lights Flicker and Die

Candles in the Dark

How do I occupy my time when there’s a power outage? Funny you should ask – this has been the summer of the thunderstorm here. We’re trying to remember how many days we’ve had without any rain at all – maybe three in July? Not that there haven’t been beautiful hot sunny days because there have been lots of those. The thunderstorms just roll on in, boom away, pour the rain down in buckets, and then roll on out again. Daily. Sometimes twice a day. It’s getting so old, trying to remember where you put that umbrella from eight hours ago. Haven’t had to wash my car at ALL – nature’s been doing all these great power washes, so that’s a big plus. But I digress. Back to the point, because I’m sure there’s one in here somewhere.

When the lights go out I’ve found it’s a good idea to have the following things handy:

1. A fully charged lap top.

2. Lots of candles. Although I’ve noticed they’re not all that useful if you’ve forgotten where you put the matches.

3. A good book and a good flashlight.

4. A big window and a comfy chair. Watching lightning can be a breathtaking experience.

5. A non-electric can opener. You can prop up a wire rack and put a pan on top of it and a candle underneath to warm something up – but you gotta get that something out of the can first.

6. A list of all the clocks in your house, and some kind of mathematical plan on how to run around resetting them so that they’re all the same. And when you get that figured out could you please share it with me, because every clock in my house says something different.

7. And MOST IMPORTANT: somebody to freak out with when it’s all over. OMG, we were without power for almost 45 minutes!! It was just so unbelievably AWFUL, you have no IDEA!!! They’re going to try to up your story, so make it a good one.