This has been quite a year so far. I'm glad I have had a lot of adventures in life so I can survive it all!
Challenges of some kinds are stimulating while challenges of other kinds can be difficult.
Hopefully in your life you have the right balance of challenges to find a way to survive them all and live to tell about it.
So far I have lived to tell about this year.
After two of my daughters and their men and families came to visit us for Christmas it started with rain and storms and a power outage a few days before Christmas this year with no power for Christmas eve or Day which was interesting except for my Generator for lights and refrigeration and WIFI and TV. We lit the fireplace also for enough warmth to continue and put on jackets when necessary to stay warm enough inside our house. We are prepared for this because winds of 100 miles per hour off the ocean from Storms at sea coming onto land are not unusual especially between December and March Some time on a yearly basis. So, we have a gas stovetop that can manually light with matches because without electricity the sparkers don't work to light the gas burners for the stove. We also have gas water heaters too which seem to often be able to keep hot water in the house even during a power outage which is nice too. However, our heater is gas but needs electricity for the thermostat and other things to work so when the power goes out we light the fire place in winter for this reason. I have wood on the hearth that I often keep year around for this purpose as well in case it is needed in an emergency.
However, it was a lot and quite an adventure for the little ones especially the one boy who is our grandson who was 7 years old at the time who had never been through a winter power outage of multiple days before including Christmas and then of course there was our baby grandson who also survived all this nicely too.
But, of course we are on the northern California coast where usually even in winter temperatures don't go below about 40 degrees much at all. So, this was survivable sort of like all of us camping out in our house in front of the fireplace and then bundling up in our bedrooms at night when we slept to keep warm. So, especially for the 7 year old boy it was an experience to remember for a lifetime.
