As I type this, the winds outside are REALLY gusty, rattling my windows and blowing leaves and debris all over the place..
So far so good; I’m one of the lucky ones who still has electricity and, if our little oasis of power can survive until tomorrow, we may – yet again – emerge unscathed.. We had a similar warning about power outages only two weeks ago and no sooner had some of us got through that, we experienced an earthquake the following week that, this time, really freaked me out.
I was sitting at my computer in the spare room (my home office) around 10.30pm when I was jolted by a really loud crack that made me jump and think -’what the fuck’ ?? I really thought someone was coming through my front door with a machine gun to kill me. I looked at the door, saw it – AND the wall next to it – move for a split second and then, silence. Nothing fell and nothing else moved; there was not even a flicker in the lights.
To say that I was shit-scared would be a major understatement. Although I’d been woken up at the end of the earthquake that had destroyed a lot of Napa in 2014, the fear I experienced this time was like nothing else I’ve ever gone through before; this includes some pretty funky dreams involving supernatural beings about to kill me, extra-terrestial flying objects about to crash on a group of us; you get the picture..
It took about an hour (and a couple of snifters of brandy) for me to calm down. Called my neighbour who confirmed that yes, it was indeed an earthquake; however, she HADN’T heard the noise. Weird. (I subsequently found out that such noises are quite common after earthquakes).
So now, we’re back to potential power outages – and the very real threat of fires – and maybe having to evacuate.
However, PG&E (my energy supplier) is still being rather complacent. Although they’ve had virtually a year since the devastating Paradise fire, not much seems to have been accomplished when it comes to improving the maintenance and quality of power lines and people’s safety in general. Many of these lines are still above ground and thus subject to the vagaries of the weather.
Outside my window, the mess that passes for connected electrical cables would not look amiss in Belize. However, Belize is considered a third-world country, while the USA is supposed to be a first-world one. Ha!!
Nevertheless, all this disruption is making me really appreciate – even more than usual – the basic services that so many of us take for granted.
And, although I can’t remember what’s it’s like to have a good night’s sleep, when I do finally surface in the mornings, I ALWAYS say ‘thank you’ to whatever protective entities that are around.
I’m also now – finally – managing to conquer my awful procrastination habit. As I’ve seen lately, everything could disappear in the blink of an eye and ….
….I may not have a tomorrow.