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Unplugged ~ An April Fools Snow Day
April 3, 2011
No joke though. We truly had a snow day on Friday.
The college where Damien works told all "non-essential" employees to stay home on Friday. A big wet storm blew in downing power lines, including the ones on our street.
We started the morning normally enough for a snow day. Sleeping in followed by a leisurely breakfast. We made the decision to not do any moving prep but to take the day off. Which for us adults would mean some unplanned for but much appreciated writing time interspersed with outdoor activity and playing with the children.
But Life had other plans in store. And when the power went out mid morning anything we hoped to do with electronics - photo editing, e-mail, writing, listening to music - went out the window.
And what filled that space was silence and time. Blessed, rare commodities in our lives.
Of course with three kids there isn't a lot of natural silence but Damien took all the kids for a walk to the grocery store after lunch and I had the house to myself.
A very quiet house to myself.
I drank tea - thank goodness for camping stoves. And read. Lots.
I could almost feel the cares of the week - the moving, writing, housework - go swoosh out the door and in its place perfect peace.
When the family came back home Damien read aloud to us and I colored.
I have a really hard time sitting still and listening without doing something with my hands. But since those opportunities are so rare these days I don't have any handicraft projects on the go. Instead of knitting, which would have been nice I colored in Laurent's coloring book.
It was so relaxing. I truly had nothing better to do so I could just sink into it.
During the reading aloud, sometime after 4:30 we heard a beep and whir from the computer as the power came back on. Damien continued to read and I eventually got up to sharpen a pencil crayon at the electric sharpener and the long moments of peace and quiet were broken.
But for a few hours we had a quiet, electronic-free day. Even with the chill (our natural gas heat goes out with the power) we appreciated being unplugged.
I wonder if we could rig that up again somehow?
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Jen on April 3, 2011, 12:04 p.m.
Sounds like a blissful day! I totally understand about needing to do something with your hands. I concentrate better if I can do that actually.
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tara on April 3, 2011, 1:16 p.m.
Id does sound like a wonderful day. And how resourceful of you using a camp stove to make tea! I'll have to remember that next time we lose power. Enjoy your Sunday.
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Emily on April 3, 2011, 2:15 p.m.
Quiet time, silence, and peace are so nourishing, aren't they? That book I see,Simplicity Parenting, was for me when I read it. How ironic that it was what you were reading on this day of simplicity. It sounds like just the sort of thing you all needed. A gift.
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Francesca on April 3, 2011, 6:51 p.m.
I actually dread power failures, especially when they happen in wintertime during snow storms when we also get snowed in. They're usually very busy, cold and difficult days. I'm so glad your experience was very different and peaceful.
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Jennifer @ kidoing! on April 4, 2011, 12:29 a.m.
We got some surprise snow last week, too, but just wet flurries that turned to rain. I LOVED Simplicity Parenting (very fitting on your "unplugged" day). So much of it really resonated with me. I think we need to reduce our book/toy collection - again. Are you enjoying it?
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Rana on April 4, 2011, 2:38 a.m.
Oh you absolutely could and should. What a nice peaceful day!
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Kate on April 4, 2011, 8:01 p.m.
What a great day! That sounds wonderful and peaceful. I hope you enjoyed your reading time. I saw that you had Simplicity Parenting in your stack -- that's one of my favorite books, ever, and has completely re-wired the way I think about parenting!
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Heather on April 3, 2011, 11:38 a.m.
I have been thinking about unplugging as of late, though we didn't lose power from this last storm. I keep having this longing of sitting and reading by candlelight and writing in my journal instead of typing on the computer...and then of course having letters and actual significant mail rather than e-mail. Of course I am slightly concerned that I may lose my mind! Or maybe I have already lost my mind and that is why I want to disconnect! I recently read "the winter of our disconnect" about a woman in australia who unplugged everything for 6 months, with 3 teenagers. It was quite interesting, and made me think about the amount of time I spend online looking for encouragement just to waste away the entire day. Thought provoking post, thank you!
renee on April 3, 2011, 11:55 a.m.
That sounds like a great book Heather. I'm adding it to my goodreads list.