the power goes off

April 16, 2003

Clearly I have entered an alternate reality. Although I found the cellphone when I picked up the stack of vinyl records that got knocked down, and persuaded the Beach Boys to come over later in the week to move the TV and hook up the DVD/VCR, and it's summer out for the second day in a row, all is not right with the world. (Note long sentence with many clauses to ward off Alzheimer's.) I sat down at the computer to upload yesterday's entry and check the email for the late breaking newsletter articles. The power went off. Then it came back. Then 5 seconds later it went off and stayed off. I called Mass Electric to report it about 2 minutes later and this was the first report of it they got. You mean I beat the crazy lady to the call? This is scary. I need to get out more. One of the neighbors who had been out walking came back and reported that the traffic lights were out and one of the streets was blocked off by trucks of various emergency sorts. I lost track of how long the power was off. I think it was 2 hours. It could have been longer.

I rummaged around in the cabinets for soup in those aseptic packages that hadn't passed its expiration date and succeeded in finding one carton of creamy portobello mushroom. With the toasted ends of the last loaf of rye bread and some green tea, it was lunch without grocery shopping. I also found a jar of sour cherries, which made an excellent afternoon snack when mixed with the last of the plain yogurt. I read somewhere [Organic Style - April issue] that green tea is good for your joints. Come to think of it, I also read in Vegetarian Times that sour cherry juice is good for damaged joints. Can I substitute these for the giant ibuprofen pills?

When the power finally came back on, I searched alibris.com for anything by Charles St. John besides The Wild Sports and Natural History of the Highlands. I came up with The Natural History of Moray and some kind of later collection of excerpts and sketches. I ordered both of them. The Natural History of Moray has to come from the UK and is listed as "usually ships in 3 weeks". How will I wait that long? Anyway, I uploaded yesterday's journal entry and fetched the email as desired since yesterday . Then it was back to working on the newsletter one handed.

I am getting very good at one handed typing but I missed a giant ibuprofen dose and my arm is starting to hurt... should take ibuprofen and go to bed...

Today's Reading
Sea Room by Adam Nicolson

This Year's Reading
2003 Book List

Today's Starting Pitcher
John Burkett