It was a bit of an interesting day there on Feb. 28 when the lights went out from Carlyle to the Manitoba border… thankfully it was a beautiful day out, but the power was off for 15 hours, came back on in Carlyle for an hour, and then was off again for about an hour before coming back for good.
It’s amazing how much we rely on electricity and technology these days. Growing up on the farm if there was ever a power outage that seemed to be extended out came the generator and a fire was lit in the fireplace downstairs – that thing could heat the whole house.
Sitting in my apartment though was a little bit different. When I went to bed, I hadn’t checked to see what SaskPower had said about how long the power would be off, so I plugged in my phone expecting it to be charged in the morning as I automatically thought it would only be out for a couple hours tops.
When I awoke in the morning, no such luck. I went and plugged my phone into my truck to charge and checked out what was going on via my SaskPower app. My first thought was about the paper. In Carlyle we send to press on Wednesdays and it has to be at the plant by noon… well that wasn’t going to happen, luckily we had that hour in the afternoon and our production got it sent… otherwise we were going to be lacking a paper that week.
So, what does one do when the power is out? Luckily it was a beautiful day, so I opened up any blinds where sun might be able to come in to keep the apartment relatively warm. I avoided opening up the freezer or fridge to avoid letting the cold air escape… and for lunch I used the BBQ… and I barbequed a can of soup. I can honestly say that’s something I never thought I would ever do. Looking back on it I could have pulled out my little camp stove, but oh well.
I read a book, which because of this job I don’t get around to a whole lot, I look at words for most of the day and reading a book for enjoyment – although I’ve always enjoyed reading – isn’t necessarily my go to.
I also had my camera at home… so the cat that I found on the streets, which now lives with me got to have a photo shoot. In a very short two-months I’ve become the “crazy cat lady,” but I have to say the pictures are pretty darn cute.
In reality I never thought that I would ever own a cat in my life. I consider myself a dog person, so when this little thing showed up at The Observer frozen in January we formed a bond as she sat on my lap for the entire day in my office as I worked. Maybe I’m more of an animal person.
She lost half of her ear due to it having froze, which was quite the odd experience finding that… luckily I didn’t find it in my bed… but I did find it on the floor near my couch – it was cold, furry, wrinkled, and hard… what was it? I dropped it quickly. Looked to my cat and realized it was just her ear. It was definitely weird finding that one though.
The other day when it began snowing she spent her time on the windowsill watching it come down... the last storm she would have been outside for seeking shelter… so, I spent my time watching her and wondering what was going through her mind as the snow fell.
