Power Out Practice
As all the modern daily conveniences were running rampant it seemed like today was a good day for power out practice. As we have talked about before humans used to live everyday all day without electricity. By practicing for those times we gain experience, which makes it less aggravating, and also serves as great family time.
This afternoon the breaker was flipped so the power was off. Now we know what caused this power outage so we could manipulate when it came back which is nice. It just so happened that dinner was already cooking. Since our oven is electrical and we have not corrected that bad situation the bean soup had to be moved. Some charcoal was readied for the Dutch Oven as the oven was cooling down. The heat was back on the bean soup so that problem was solved.
The next issue was there was no more television, computers, and magically the power out practice some how turned our cell phones off. One of the children remembered the solar powered radio so he was granted the tuning responsibilities for a little while. The radio captivates for a little while and so the next form of entertainment were books. It is amazing how relaxing an afternoon can be with just low music and a good book.
Now that everyone was in a more relaxed mood it was almost time for dinner. Fortunately the nutritious bean soup was ready and bowls were prepared. Tonight we would be eating by the soft soothing flickering of candlelight. The dishes were put aside for later powered cleaning as it was time for some family fun with a board game.
We fired up the Little Giant and played a nice long game of Monopoly. A casual observer would have had a hard time seeing the great hardship we were under. Granted the piece of mind knowing why the power was out was a comfort. We were able to pass on such issues as washing the dishes by hand and dealing with a refrigerator and freezer with no power. We also could overlook the water preparations due to the short practice.
We would love to have a longer power out practice, but the reality is that daily commitments make it hard. The important thing is to practice and see where some potential improvement areas need to be. Once you identify those you can make a plan to resolve them. When is the last time you had a power out practice? How catastrophic would it be to your family?