Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com
Ice Wednesday
Ash Wednesday presented itself as Ice Wednesday, which
was Lenten in its own way.
The daughter-person evacuated her far-away home for a few
days because the whimsical power supplier in The Big City where she lives is
definitely not Jasper-Newton Electric Co-Operative. Her cliff-dwelling was
cold, with promises of more cold to come. Her childhood home offered a
dependable electrical supplier, a generator, a fireplace, and a nice supply of oak
from Jake and Julie’s American Firewood.
We lost power to our country estate here along Beer Can
Road and County Dump Extension for seven hours not because of institutional
malfeasance or misfeasance or any other sort of feasance, but only because the
ice took down power lines and trees which then took down more power lines.
Losing electricity for a few hours beneath ice, sleet, and
snow is a matter of gratitude because it was for only a few hours, not for a
week. JNEC linemen were out in the icy wind both day and night mending things while
we sat by the fireplace.
Yep, that calls for gratitude, not attitude.
One of the nicer gadgets for helping out during hurricanes
and ice storms is a portable power pack, which is a big, rechargeable battery
or a series of batteries in a sturdy plastic container. There are many kinds
and different prices, and a variety of features. Mine has jumper cables, an air
pump for tires, a 110-volt outlet for very limited use, lighter-sockets for
older accessories, and a little outlet for powering and charging a MePhone or
computer. It usually rides in the back of my car.
The daughter-person has a much lighter power pack which
features battery cables, an air-pump, and several MePhone / computer outlets. It
was nice not having to ration the charge on a MePhone.
We also have a number of cheap battery lanterns all over
the house. They have those efficient new golly-gee-whiz bulbs which do a pretty
good job of lighting an area using little energy but whose piercing little blue
lights make reading difficult.
Last year I bought a new portable generator (which is
OUTSIDE) to replace the old Hurricane Rita one, and it is a marvel – more fuel-efficient
than the old one, more breakers if you try to power too many coffee makers or
refrigerators or microwaves or window air-conditioners at one time (I haven’t
yet), and with (TA-DA!) a push-button start. The generator (OUTSIDE) proved
itself after Hurricane Laura, and again in the ice age we used it in turn on
the refrigerator, the microwave, and the coffee maker.
Anything with an exhaust or which uses flames must be
OUTSIDE.
Because the generator is OUTSIDE I have to run a long,
heavy-duty cord. Plugging together those light-load household extension cords is
dangerous. The heavy-duty cables I have for the generator have little lights in
the ends so that you know for the sake of safety that the cord is “live” and,
as a convenience, you know where the ends are.
While Elsa and Anna were visiting I dug out the little
folding Sterno stove I bought in 1968. I was one of ninety Navy Corpsman being
trained by the Marines in their Field Medical Service School.
Sergeant Schneider called us rude names. If my mother
could have heard the insensitive language he used she would have had something to
say to him about it. So there.
Anyway, we young heroes (That’s what Sergeant Schneider
called us, but he didn’t mean it) had occasion to spend rainy days and rainy
nights in the cold and wind and mud of February along the coast (“Sunny
California,” my apostrophe) and in the hills, and although the Marine cooks did
a good job while chillin’ outside with us (eggs and bacon floating in rainwater
in your mess tin, yum), the little stove was useful when time permitted (it
seldom did) while sheltering out of the wind behind a tent or vehicle to heat
up some soup or instant coffee.
Sergeant Schneider always seemed comfortable in the wild
weather, though – I suppose not even the elements would dare annoy a Marine
Corps sergeant.
The daughter-person took charge of the little stove and
enjoyed the novelty of cooking (OUTSIDE – Sterno must be used OUTSIDE) some
Ramen on the back porch.
Sergeant Schneider would approve.
As of this scribbling the power is on, I have coiled the
power cords and covered the generator (which is OUTSIDE), have stored away the
Sterno stove, and am simply enjoying the warmth.
Thanks again, JNEC; you’re the best.
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