When I woke up on Thanksgiving, I wasn’t feeling particularly thankful. This was the third day without power, which also means no hot water and no shower. We do have a generator but only one apartment can have their water heater plugged in at time. And none of us had it plugged in since we kept expecting power to come back on any minute. The temperature reading on all four tanks was far away from any reading that resembled warmth and it would take a while for one to get warm.
We have been very fortunate and had power most days since I arrived. When we do lose it, it has only been for a few hours and at most over night. Not this time.
Since we don’t have central heat, when the power is out the electric heater in my bedroom doesn’t work. My other option for heat is the propane heater in my living room. Theoretically I could fall asleep with it on since it’s vented outside and not worry about carbon monoxide poisoning, but I’m not going to risk it. Between the lack of power, 3 days without a shower and my bones feeling cold, the homesickness hit with a hammer.
As I was lying in bed having a personal pity party and heard the rumble of the generator, my cell phone rang. Why is someone calling me at 8am? It was Rick and he wanted to see what time we could all have a pre-meeting about the project meeting we had later in the morning. All’s I was thinking was “great, a pre-meeting meeting on Thanksgiving.” I agreed to 9:30a and as we got off the phone thinking, well I was thankful for the generator but I’d rather be home.
Thankfully the day and my mood improved dramatically. Our actual meeting was at a military base and was followed by Thanksgiving dinner with the troops. As we waited in the chow line, the sun was out and the view of the snow-covered mountains was spectacular. The food inside was the biggest spread I have ever seen and had almost all the treats of home. As a bonus, they were replaying the UCONN men’s basketball game on TV.
On the ride home, we joked about how crabby all of us were in the morning and we realized how wonderfully we were provided for today, even the small ways. When we arrived at home, the electricity was on!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
