We were one of the families in the northeast that spent Thanksgiving without power.
The day before Thanksgiving a heavy snow fell surprising us all. I mean we all knew that snow was in the forecast, but few of us knew that within an hour of its starting, the driving could be difficult and the trees would be covered in white. It was the kind of snow that sticks to everything. It was the kind of snow that took down trees and limbs. In our cozy house, everything was all set for the next day’s celebration, cakes and breads were cooling, the turkey was defrosted and ready to be stuffed, and the yams were set aside, ready to be baked. We had just settled down to watch “The Homecoming” (the one with the Waltons) when the house went dark.
Losing electricity is really not that unusual for where we live. We have wires that run through the trees and even with yearly summer pruning, the town still can’t keep up with the growth. It’s hardly noteworthy when we lose our electricity, yawn, it will usually be back on soon. We found our various flashlights (note to self, collect all flashlights, check the batteries and put them in a central location) and then lit candles.
For a few hours we read and talked by candlelight, but without TV or computer to stimulate our brains, guess what happened? We all got tired and were all asleep by 9:00 p.m. certain that we’d have power the next morning.
We didn’t.
And then we didn’t have power by Thanksgiving afternoon.
Fortunately some of the local grocery stores were open and Marc went out to get some supplies. Thanksgiving dinner for us was turkey sandwiches, cranberry sauce, nuts, and chips. It was a meal different from what had been planned but it was a meal we were grateful for just the same.
Sure we didn’t have power, but our entire family was home and safe.
Then a funny thing happened. Instead of retreating to individual rooms to get on the internet with friends, or to go watch TV, games were pulled out, books were read and conversations were held. It was our own Homecoming, where we rediscovered our sense of family once again.
Our power returned on Friday afternoon, but here in New Hampshire, even though we didn’t have roast turkey with the trimmings, and even though we didn’t have any electricity, Thanksgiving came, it came just the same.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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