Away from it All

Well, I turned 25. Thank goodness Mr. Camping and his cronies miscalculated. At least now I'll have 5 months to live as a member of the quarter century club. AND I lived to see my little Hermione molt for the first time! (At least I hope that's why she has buried herself in the sand.) Hermit crabs are supposed to molt on a somewhat regular basis, and neither of mine have done so since I've adopted them last fall. So I'm glad to see that Hermione, at least, is on track. Dimitri seems to be fairly active, though, so I'm not too worried about him. Can you tell I'm a proud mother?

So we've had some pretty severe weather up here in no-man's-land. We lost power from about 8 last night until sometime this morning or afternoon. And then it went out again for a couple hours tonight. Of course, it's nothing compared to Lauren's latest ordeals. But still, for northern PA, it's something out of the ordinary. We've had high winds, hail, torrential rain, and lots of thunder and lightening.

I've actually kind of enjoyed it. Thank God nothing too severe has happened in my general vicinity. No injuries of deaths that I've heard about. Tonight when the power went out I was home alone. I could have figured out how to turn on the generator, I suppose. But I didn't have any overwhelming desire to do so. Instead I left my computer and the television behind and just sat out on the porch, enjoying the storm. I listened to the rain and felt the wind on my face. A couple of baby squirrels joined me under the refuge of the porch roof, not sensing that I was there. I felt at peace. My phone was out of hearing range, and the internet and computer were not calling for my attention. It was a chance to just lie back and enjoy nature and the peace it brings. I can't say that I had any major revelations or moments of enlightenment, but I guess in a way it was a recharging period that I sorely needed; especially after two hectic days at work (a boil water advisory is not a pleasant thing for the food industry, FYI).

I have to say I was a little disappointed when my parents came home and turned on the generator. It was nice not having to worry about who was trying to contact me, or what I was missing in the digital world. So I went upstairs and took a bath by candlelight. That was the most relaxed I've been in "many moons" (to recall my childhood days in Indian Guides). I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's nice to be forced to step away from the modern world for a while. To be forced to spend some time with your own thoughts, dealing with those nagging issues and dilemmas that have been pushed aside by the many demands of the digital age.

Perhaps it's something I should force myself to do every once in a while, rather than waiting for severe weather to make it necessary. Perhaps we all should attempt this now and again.

Or maybe that's just the introvert in me talking. ;)