BOOM! A loud thunder shook the house at 4 AM today, like an imaginary giant had stomped on it. I opened the shade to see the storm, then closed it, hoping to fall back asleep. A little later, the purr of the portable fan stopped, and the light from my bedside alarm clock was gone.

This woke up Dan, who mumbled, “How will I make my coffee and toast?”, realizing we were without power. He went back to sleep.

I got up because it was close to my usual wake up time. It was too dark to see anything. Looking for the door to the bathroom became a challenge, causing me to bump into it. Now where is my drinking cup for water, and where is the faucet?

A flashlight is needed, but it’s downstairs. My phone is also downstairs. I’m not going down there in this complete darkness. I get to a window in another room and open the shade. No street lights, and no next door neighbor’s lights are on. It’s black as can be.

I decide to do my 20 minutes of knee exercises. This feels good; a silver lining to the unexpected awakening. I’m ahead of the day’s schedule.

Now I’m ready to tackle the steps. I can not believe how dark it is. Should I sit and scootch down each of the 20 steps? Then I see a sliver of morning light through the window on the landing, giving me enough vision for a careful walk down.

I’m excited to light a candle, and set out some homemade sourdough bread slices from the freezer to thaw for a cold breakfast peanut butter sandwich. There’s also a Cheerios and banana option, which makes me happy.

Now I’m thinking I want to document this experience and get to writing this post.

It’s kind of wonderful to be up in the “wee small hours of the morning” (Carly Simon, “Sleepless in Seattle”) and experience this drama, ha ha.

My phone tells me that Alliant Energy is working to have the power back by 8 AM. When it all zings back on at 7, I actually jump in surprise. Ahh, the ordinariness of electricity, making noise and light all around us.

Iowa and Nebraska have had a lot of rain, 3 to 4 inches in a short time, over multiple days. My brother’s home in Spirit Lake has water in the basement (only in the tiled area, not the carpeted part, he told me this morning) and in the garage.

These hard rains have led to West Lake Okoboji rising, causing some boats to float away, off their lifts, especially when the wind picks up. Tie them down is the advice, or move them back to storage, where they sat for the winter.

“Drink the wild air” (Emerson), and Take Care,

Thank you for reading.

Shirley