Things we take for granted

I have often said that I wouldn't want to go be on a "reality" TV show because being away from access to information would drive me batty. Although, on the other hand, I think my sister and I would have a blast on the Amazing Race, and I wouldn't mind going on Survivor but only if it was guaranteed to be in an area with good snorkeling and I could be voted out first, so I could snorkel for the next month or so. But I digress. What I was trying to say was that I need to be able to ask my favorite know it all guys (Mr. Google and Mr. Wikipedia) whatever question I think of, when I think of it. I also like being able to check the radar (especially during the kind of weather we have been having around here recently).

So this morning, when the power was out for several hours, what bothered me the most was not the humidity in my house (although I was pleased when the power - read: the AC - came back on), and it wasn't that poor Connor was stuck inside, bored and sick of the rain (I was, too, and there are certainly worse things in life). No, what bothered me the most was that I couldn't log on to the internet and find out what was happening, what the radar looked like, even what my friends were posting on Facebook about the storm (some of my friends have generators, others use their cell phones to post, so they are still connected even when the power is out, a fact which makes me jealous).

But here's the funny thing. When the power did come back on, I didn't immediately jump on the internet. I did several other things, and it was at least an hour later before I got onto the information super highway. It wasn't that I didn't want to. It was just that, once the power was back on, I took for granted that it would stay on, so I didn't feel a particular sense of urgency to hurry up and do the things that required power while I could. (As it turned out, I was mostly right - the power stayed on for several hours before going out again for about an hour later in the afternoon.) Anyway, it was an interesting object lesson for me - too often in life, we do take for granted the things that are "always" there, in the background. I know I, for one, don't take enough time to be thankful for those types of things. Hmmm. Something to think about, and possibly to change.

The island is faring well so far during this storm. There's the usual flooding in the standard areas where it's expected, but no major issues that I've heard about. I haven't seen anyone kayaking down my street, so it's not as bad as that nor'easter last November. (Or at least not yet, anyway.)