Like manna from Heaven - power!

So tomorrow it's suppose to be hotter than today and I was thinking 

when the power went out this was the first time I have felt

anxious.  It all started this morning when I was walking from my

car and heading into my office. The wind was blowing

and it was hot and the sky wasn't as blue. I knew there was going to

be a fire today. All the elements were there for a fire. I even 

told my co-worker that.  We even talked about, where we kept our

family albums and important papers and if they were handy just in case. 

What are the things we would grab if we had to leave in a hurry, things like that. 

I kept a list in my head, I'd grab our computer tower, our laptop, the plastic bins

with our family pictures, the fire box I purchased several years ago that held

all our important papers, certificates etc. 

But it didn't cross my mind about not having electricity, until it happened. 

Yes we lost power at work, but then it was time to go home. 

Except I had an appointment down in Folsom and so I  still thought I

could make it down there in 45 minutes. I heard about the fire, my daughter texted me

because it was near where she worked. She said it was on both sides of the freeway. 

I just didn't think it was going to affect me in the direction I was going. 

So I thought.

 It wasn't until I  passed a few exits as I made my way down the hill when

I could see the traffic backing up, and backing up really fast. I knew I wasn't

going to make my appointment. I quickly got off the freeway and called to reschedule. 

I told them what was going on, no big deal. I thought fine, I'll just turn around and take 

another exit heading towards home,but first I'll stop and pick up something

for dinner, Dave would like that.

 Nope.

 I got to the establishment, and I noticed

the business next to it was dark, and  sure enough, the poor guys in 

my favorite restaurant were sitting in the dark apologizing that they

were without power. It wasn't their fault. But like a ditz I was finally

realizing that the whole town if not most of the county was without power.

I made my way home, and sat in the driveway with my car turned on charging

my phone or attempting to. Out came my husband, he was on his way

to the Hospital, because he was on call, and he couldn't get through and

his phone wasn't working.  My phone was working and he was able to check in to make sure

they weren't trying to get a hold of him. We found out that our phones were now

going from having cell service to not. This is when I started feeling 

anxious. We were worried about our daughter, because she couldn't

leave her job until the parents of her charges were picked up and

her workplace was right in the middle of the chaos of traffic and the fire.

Just the fact of not being able to call Dave's phone from my phone or anyone else for that matter

made me nervous.  Okay here's the over the dramatic part, I told Dave, what if

this was the great disaster, not the fire, but no power and not being able to 

communicate. Here it is triple digit heat, no power for the gas stations, no power

for the atm machines to get cash if we needed it. 

All those preparedness questions were running through my head. 

And yet nearly a month ago, I was thinking, I need to refresh our 72 hour kits, 

and I hadn't done that yet. And where was my battery powered radio, I know I

have it somewhere. Do we have enough water? Well if not,, do I have enough bleach

to purify some water from the pool? Wish I had some extra fuel for the

car if we needed it. But mostly it came down to not being able to 

communicate with the world so I didn't feel all alone in this

experience. Silly isn't it. This was the reason for my anxiety. And  then like a 

Light from Heaven - harp music please -  my cell phone came back to life with

a tweet sound - it was a text from our Bishop, Matt Hutchings asking if we were okay

and if I heard from any of our elderly ward members. I don't know if  I was just a name

on his list, but it didn't matter, there was someone out there who cared if we

were okay. Sigh- cue violin music and pass the Kleenex. But seriously folks, 

It felt good, because I knew were weren't alone. He asked if we had power because he and his family just got power.  But of  course I hadn't even checked yet, because

I was still in my car in the driveway. I thought, well he's asking I better go check......

and so..... like manna from Heaven, I walked up the first couple of steps on to our porch and

as soon as my fingers turned the toggle of the light switch, the porch light came on.

We had power! It's a Miracle!  I quickly texted him back, Yes! with an exclamation mark.

I ran into the house, opened the back door and yelled to Dave, the power's on!

He responded back very casually, yes, I know, I heard the neighbors AC come on. 

Oh, okay, I said. Well it didn't matter, I went around resetting all the clocks, 

emptying the dishwasher and it became a regular nothing unusual evening

 I kind of forgot what just happened the last couple of hours. 

But did I??? 

 So today, nothing happened that was too serious, but what if the next time it was?

Would we be prepared if it was the real thing?

Not a drill but the real thing? 

I must not procrastinate and act now

or..... be acted upon.

"georgie"