I just found out earlier today that the power is out at my house. Will be off till Friday, about two days from now. This sucks. The thing is, it only sucks as much as I let it. There are plenty of things to do when the power is out. For one, get away from electronics. I live with my wife and three dogs so companionship is no problem.
Another is to play board games. We like to pull out the headlamps, and sometimes candles, along with a few board and card games. Monopoly is the one we get most competitive over. We also play two player spades and other various card games.
Another thing to do is talk. Discuss our dreams, our plans, our wants and needs. Reconnect as a couple. Often we are reminded why we fell in love with each other in the first place. This is our favorite activity when the lights are out as it is the one we remember as it passes to our subconscious.
We also like to laid the dogs up and take them for short road trips. This helps them cope, at least we think it does, with the lights being out. It gets their minds off why the rooms are dark or the air conditioning is not blowing cold air at them from the floor. They love car rides. There is a dog park down the interstate a bit that we visit. We look at the stars often during these road trips.
We often have picnics on our front porch when the lights are out. Just sandwiches and bottled water, maybe a soda. Sometimes a soda but not often.
We also take walks together around the neighborhood. Talk with neighbors and see how they are doing and help out if we can. Most of the people in our area do this. Even those of us that don't speak the same language. Clearing debris off someone's car or out of their yard is universal. Just start with a few finger points a smile and an extended hand in friendship. The rest works itself out.
While it sucks that the lights are out, it is a time to reconnect and be a decent human being. Something we all probably could use more experience with.
