Yikes, no power, now what?

A couple weeks ago, the power went out for a couple hours at my house due to a giant windstorm. There was no TV, no stove, no microwave, no refrigerator. I couldn't use the computer and my cell service was down as well. The only thing still operating was my non-electric land line phone. All those little lights that tell you every device in the house is charging (or just eating up electricity) were off. There were no lights, no stereo, and more importantly no heat.

Our dependence on electrical appliances is staggering. My camera would still work, until my batteries ran out of their electrical charge, and I can't look at the large photos without a computer. I wouldn't be able to use the sewing machine. I can't make a cup of tea or wash the clothes. As I sat there reading in the fading daylight, I realized this was the only thing I could do with no electricity. (I could be hand quilting, but chose reading instead.) There was no hum of electricity or a heater or a TV through out the house. Except for the ticking of the analog clock in my kitchen, the house was dead quiet.

It made me wonder about what people in the old days did with all the quiet? I assume they worked. Hard. They sewed, read to one another, and talked. No wonder they all went to bed at sunset. What else could they do? Thank goodness the plumbing still works even though I had to use a candle to light the bathroom. The house kept getting a little colder and the clock ticking was an annoying reminder of the time passing.

Suddenly 3 hours later, the house blinks awake - and I mean blinks. The clocks are blinking on the TV, the DVR, the microwave, the radio, the stove, and on all the alarm clocks. I heard the flame of the gas heater click on to reassure me that there's heat. The lights are blaring and the TV roars to life, with Dr. Phil giving advice on how to improve our lives. The noise is jarring and for a few moments very unwelcome. For just awhile there, I knew what peacefulness was. I can't say I am not dependent on my appliances. But maybe we should turn them off now and then to drink in the silence and enjoy the life you're living. Read a book. Talk to someone. Eliminate the distractions. Be quiet with your thoughts.

I'm now at the point in this holiday season where it's too late to send Christmas cards and now I feel guilty. To those of you who send me cards and care about me, I want you to know I love getting your photos and your cards. I display them each year on my quilted Christmas tree. (Look here's a picture to prove it - there is actually a quilted tree underneath all the cards!) I really do appreciate your warm thoughts and wishes. I'm writing this so you won't cross me off your Christmas list next year for being totally disorganized and unable to get it together before the holiday to send cards.

I almost feel like I'm writing a Christmas letter, catching you up on the past few weeks. My own life is taking some exciting turns and twists. I've been quilting a few quilts for my friends on my Voyager V17 machine. Frustrating to be sure. I've also been hand quilting my oldest son's high school graduation quilt (from 1999). I wanted to finish it by the end of this year. Whether I meet that deadline remains to be seen.

I sold my first picture at Imagekind - the photo of the Viking Ship, and joined a Pittsburgh group on there as well, a place to share photos of our favorite city. I made less than 10.00, but I was so excited. It's the first time I ever sold anything (ever!).

To all my friends and family and followers, I'm trying to form a tribe. That means if you tell 10 people you trust about my blog, and then they tell 10 people etc, etc, I'll have a tribe of people following me. So to those of you in my tribe already, thank you. Have a Happy New Years celebration and be safe and take care.

I'll see you in the new decade!

Mary Jane

Iceland Part Four

The Golden Circle
I hope you don't mind that I'm continuing my Iceland story as though nothing else is going on here in the States. I know it's the week before election, and trust me, I'm better off talking about Iceland.

The day before, the weather was a typical cloudy day, but on Friday, the weather turned much colder, rainier, and unpredictable. When we started out it was cloudy, but cold. At different points in the trip, mostly when we were on the bus, the sun would peak through the clouds. We drove to Thingvellir, the location of the First Law speaker and First Government. The TH in that word is actually a symbol that looks like a P. Complicated language. We walked through a place where the Teutonic plates in the earth still separate by 1 cm each year. They were high and rocky and beautiful. There was a waterfall here where they executed women and drowned people who committed crimes. Luckily at this point, no rain.

We moved on to Geysir, where all Geysirs get their name, and saw several steaming hot springs in the earth, where one was erupting every 3 minutes or so. At this point, it's freezing rain. I'm trying to get a picture of water spouting in the air at an unpredictable time, through steam that lasts about a second, through a plastic bag surrounding my camera so it won't get wet. Needless to say, after 5 minutes of getting soaked, all I got was a photo of lots of steam, and I bought myself a postcard of the Geysir. We took our Terrible Towels to Geysir and one of our tourmates took our photo there. First we used Patty's camera, then I gave him mine. When he was taking one of the photos, he kept saying that was a really good one, really good. Later, I realized that on Patty's camera, I was holding the towel upside down. And the guy that took our photo was from Boston!! (Patriots fan). He swears he didn't notice, but.......I think he knew.

We drove on, with my jeans soaked all the way up to my thighs, and stopped at Gulfoss for lunch (where they had great lamb stew) to see a huge waterfall there. They told us when the sun is shining, you can see a rainbow across the falls. There were 100 steps to get down to the viewing platform, and those who were truly brave walked all the way down to the rock next to the falls. What you see here is not steam, but spray because I slowed down the speed on the camera. See that rock off to the left? Lots of spray down there. I wasn't up to getting my camera quite that wet, so observed from afar. The wind was cold, and so strong at this point, it dried most of the water from my jeans.

After this, we drove to a "foxie" which was a small waterfall with a salmon run (on left).

Then we drove to Eden, a place with tons of greenhouses. We drove past a church where there was an excavation site over 500 years old being worked on. As we were driving by a hillside, we stopped to take a photo of one of the little houses where the whodafolk live (elves, trolls, magical people). You have to look closely at the photo to see their little home. Then our tour driver took us to Alafoss, where they sold their wool products direct at great prices. I think they are the biggest wool manufacturer in the country.

At the end of this day, we drove to the Viking Ship near Reykjavik to have a group photo taken. The sky at this point was gorgeous and there was no rain for a few seconds. Totally beautiful.

Tomorrow: The Glacier