A couple of weeks ago, CBS News posted a video on Facebook of kids in a school here in PR when electricity was restored. It is a fantastic celebration, joyous and exuberant, as it should be.
On February 5, 137 days after the storm, 139 days after the lights went out, we got electricity back.
Our celebration wasn't quite as rambunctious as the celebration in the school but we quietly celebrated.
Some of our response was humorous. For example, after flipping switches out of habit for the first few weeks, when the light finally came back on, we couldn't remember where the switches are. We had to use flashlights to find the light switches.
On the first morning we got up in the dark and turned on the lights. And immediately turned them off. Too harsh, too bright! We went back to our solar lights and flashlights to light the morning. We're still using them.
We don't miss the noise and the smell of the generators. We do miss the dark at night and the stars. We've lost that contact in the light haze.
As I said, having power back is a game-changer, a life-changer. In the past four months I've moved away from so many of the things I did before the hurricane, especially photography. I have not had access to my usual photo editing software because I don't have my computer because I don't have electricity.Without my camera, software and the Internet to upload photos, I have done none, zero, surf photography since the storm.
I've filled that void with other things, especially caring for and working with horses. Horses, not photography, have become my daily morning ritual. The restoration of electricity brings at least the possibility of returning to photography. Since typically both are morning activities, I will have to choose between them. And that thought just flat out depressed me. I may be the only person on the island depressed by the restoration of electricity.
The need to make that decision has been delayed. Even though we now have electric back, I still don't have my computer; it still has its own issues and isn't working. Back to shop it goes. .
No comments:
Post a Comment