“You gotta wonder sometimes, who could possibly think up the things we have to live through. Power’s out, I’m armed with a “smart phone” while nature is pummeling the landscape with 80 mph winds, and slicing rain. But let’s do a little review. Let’s look at history for a minute. My history. Those who know me know I’ve never really done power outages. My 30 years living off-grid cushioned me from such realities. I didn’t blink when ice paralyzed the state, as freezers turned against their owners. Because, thanks to my battery bank, solar panels & a winter-worthy generator, I was up & humming. If I did lose power, it was due to an old component on its last legs, unable to perform. It was personal. It was due to a lack of maintenance. Or a husband. It was just ... mine, and mine alone. But, last night, I involved the whole extended community in my plight, &, as a newbie, played it to the hilt. Traipsing clumsily a succession of gloppy, muddy goat paths, part babbling brook, part glacial scree, to my yurt, silenced by winds more akin to freight trains than jet streams, I was not going to let some “power outage” get the better of me. On a mission to find an LED lantern, one of two, to bring back to the house, I found myself on the threshold of a swinging door, & grabbed it, to keep it from smashing off its hinges. One step in, and a quick look around, and suddenly the door was slamming shut behind me. No problem, just let me find the lamp, and get out of here, I thought, hearing trees all around me and above me near breaking, and the deafening roar of the wild, mountain funneled air, and the inky dark, dead to those who need light. This place I’m not staying a second longer, any sane fool would agree! Lantern in hand, I pushed at the door & pulled at its string latch. And, nothing moved. I pulled again. And nothing moved. A malfunction, of the mechanism. The snug, well made door, was now locked from the outside. And I could see the play unfolding, encompassing both my denial, and an intense admiration for the director of this, Scene One. A physical entrapment, not merely an emotional one, and, oh, so cleverly executed to arrive at the peak, yes, the apex, of an extremely dangerous storm. And this, my friends, is where reality often parts, or meets, with our psyche. If I had only known how masterful the puppet masters can be. I might never have married someone “too good to be true”, & over-riding my inner bullshit meter, gone along with being subjugated, and not for the first time. Such that now, being dominated by a lousy door, and some theatrical weather conditions, was supposed to cow me. No, in this calm, annoyed state of boredom with the play, I began to text anyone I knew close by. “You’ll never guess what happened” I pecked out with my index fingers, “I’m stuck in my yurt and can’t get out”. “Hey, is anyone around?” I continued. Meanwhile, the sound of the hall of the mountain king’s oncoming steam-powered locomotives made any kind of auditory contact, out of the question. Did these other-worldly gusts not have anyone else to harass? Maybe, I should be flattered they spent so much of their budget trying to terrify me. It was a fail, all the way around. Brian & Lutalo eventually got my messages and knew what to do. I barely heard them fussing with the entangled door parts, but saw their shadows, behind the glass. Friends, just doing amazing things, being heroic, without trying to be, while the world gets worse and worse.”
