Power out is not powerless

Trust me on that. But just after I emailed last night – first one set of lights blinked out. Less than a minute later, all the other circuits went dead. And it was quiet, a very quiet 2230. Good writeup in the Berkeleyside which is an on-line only Berkeley newspaper.

At least it was quiet in my the house. Most of the time, none of us notice all the background noise produced by various machines, electronics, and appliances. I wasn’t able to say the same for the renters up the hill from us. Quiet? No – they had been partying hard since 2000, complete with barbecue from the smells of things. Suddenly they were literally (as apposed to aware of their affect on others) in the dark. More noise, complete with laughs, shrieks and giggles.

Rather than starting WWIII in the neighborhood, I just shut my window. Plus, I finally realized that it was Saturday night. If you are young, I guess Saturday night is for partying.

Which takes us to this morning when I started smelling smoke in the house – nothing burning near us – just the wind had changed. It was now blowing from Sonoma to us. We still have no power and I am expecting the situation to remain unchanged through tomorrow. The dividing line turns out to be Spruce Street runs parallel to Euclid only  four blocks further down the hill. Peet’s was packed this morning with hordes coming down for coffee, wifi and a chance to charge their phones.

I am sure that there are still those who don’t believe PG&E should have shut off power. But then, perhaps they are not paying attention to the brush fires this afternoon along HWY 24 near Walnut Creek. Or the continuing spread of fire in Sonoma. Or all the trees down along the route we took from Berkeley to Richmond (California) due to the high winds.

Practically speaking, all of us are going to have to make changes. It isn’t just the US. Or some areas of Canada. There were massive wild fires last year in Sweden destroying millions of acres. There have been fires across huge swaths of Russia. My intrepid friends in Australia note that fire season now starts two months earlier. There are fires burning in New South Wales and Queensland.

We can also hold our politicians accountable. Yes, I moved back to a country with a leader who epitomizes the “everyone for themselves,” attitude. Who has cut safety funding, who has cut both education and senior citizen services and benefits. And doesn’t believe that it is anyone’s responsibility to leave the world in a decent shape.

Me? I am reading regulations, I will vote, I will play my part. But I believe in leaving the world a better place than what I found it. I won’t pat myself on the back for reducing my carbon footprint this past year – my decreased travel was not voluntary. But it has made me stop and think about waste, cost, and where I spend my precious dollars as well as who I want representing me.

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About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!
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12 Responses to Power out is not powerless

  1. Janet says:

    I completely agree. We all need to participate in the solution. I think of all the Tesla charging stations in my area. Sounds earth friendly until one remembers that carbon fuels power the power plants…

    • Holly says:

      someone has to have done all the calculations as to whether the carbon going into the electricity is less than the carbon burned as fuel. plus the plants do run on less refined….
      but I am happiest if I can use public transport

  2. Carmen says:

    This is a really great post, Holly.
    I hope your power is back soon, and that the fires are under control soon.
    We all need to do more. Getting rid of this administration is barely a start.

  3. Steven says:

    My poor parents and brother/SIL in Marin are in the dark. But at least they don’t have to evacuate.

  4. Lynne says:

    Be safe..keeping you in my prayers… we are keeping an eye on the mountains we can see from our front window. They have been on fire most of the day and the winds aren’t helping one bit. We are not in danger but I will be indoors with the windows shut until the air is clear. As you said in your earlier post, it’s all over. Safe drive home..

  5. Alison says:

    Be safe. And anyone barbecuing in the dark in these circumstances is nuts.

  6. Chere' says:

    We began voting early when the annual Busch Garden “work” began each November. Hope to flip VA Dem this year- we’re so close.

    • Holly says:

      and we are on permanent mail in ballots. Just makes life so much easier. And insures that we vote

  7. Donna says:

    Stay safe Holly. Praying lack of power is the only consequence of you from the fires. It’s downright scary

  8. Pat says:

    Well said.

  9. Donna says:

    Because this is Fl and we often have no power after tropical storms, I have lanterns (battery operated), and even a generator at my daughters house….So I’m familiar with the pitch black. But usually, it’s also in the 90’s. Good thing I’m acclimated to the heat

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