Last week I lost power for almost 2 days due to severe storms in the Chicago land area.  The power went out the night of the storm.  It was quite frightening as I had already sought shelter in my basement as my house rattled in the wind and the Village tornado warning sirens blared loudly.  All I kept thinking was, “we’re not in Kansas anymore!”  I kept my little battery-operated lantern close and my cell phone even closer as I sat in the dark on the staircase wondering if the windows and roof were still intact.  Thankfully the worst of the storm passed within an hour and I was able to emerge from the basement without harm.  

The following morning standing in the middle of my living room I looked around and thought, now what?  With the power still out I couldn’t watch television or work on the computer, reading was difficult with limited light and my cordless phones didn’t work.  I also was not yet willing to attempt getting the garage door disconnected to get the car out.  And, it was getting quite warm in the house due to lack of air conditioning.  So what was I to do? 

This is when I realized I didn’t know how to behave without daily access to power or technology.  Wow!  We are completely dependent on electricity for everything as well as addicted to always “doing” something.  In response to this revelation I sat down on my sofa and was still.  As much as I’d like to say I sat for a long time and enjoyed the peace and quiet, that would not be the truth.  I actually could only tolerate about 15 minutes of silence and then had to “do” something.  So I mustered up the courage to pull the string on the garage door to release it, got the car out of the garage and headed over to my parents’ house where they had electricity.  Yes, my laptop was in hand!  After all, I had to “do” something right?

Much to my surprise, there was a tree down on their street so I had to park a 1/2 block away and walk.  To their pleasure, I ended up being their temporary chauffer service until the Village removed the tree a few hours later.  And because they had power, I quickly plugged in and got back to work on the computer.

So when I tell you it is a good thing to unplug from technology and take a break, I now realize I need to do the same.  Therefore, you may see shorter blogs for the months of July & August since I’m going to unplug more often and hit the links to enjoy the good weather.  If you’re up for it, try doing the same!