Electric Recollections

Some of our friends and relatives had the unpleasant surprise of waking up on Christmas Day to NO ELECTRICITY, instead of stockings hung with care. How devastating, especially if you were in charge of the dinner of the day. This was the time for remembering, remembering how great-grandma might have made dinner for all of the family on any day of the year, let alone on a day of festivities and lots and lots of family. 

Oh, of course, grandma probably had the luxury of a wood or coal burning kitchen range.  If the wood pile ran low, you could always send the kids out to gather cow chips, providing they hadn’t been blessed with a foot of snow earlier. 

And refrigeration wasn’t a problem because you probably had an ice house to store the perishables.  The fact that you didn’t have running water was not an issue either because someone could always be delegated to fetch a pail of water from the well, which was operated with human energy and you didn’t have to worry about flushing the toilet either.

Of course, the lack of electricity on a holiday affects more than just the cook of the house. The men of the household were no doubt busy trying to find a working generator so they can get water to the cattle, maybe even to operate some feeding equipment. And, I am sure they were working hard to keep their tempers under control. 

Even if you lived in town the lack of electricity is a major inconvenience.  Just how do you keep your cell phones (smart phones) charged, or what about the new game you received Christmas Eve.

The lack of electricity affects everyone in all walks of life.  To look on the bright side, maybe it doesn’t hurt any of us to be reminded of our blessings and just how much we take for granted.  However, my New Year wishes for all would be to have good health, happiness and continuous electrical power.