You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone...
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Well with the storms well and truly gone and Queensland sunshine in full swing we have had time to look back and reflect on the events of last week. We still find it hard to believe that we arrived in Australia on the eve of a cyclone, but there you go. The thing that really flummoxed us all was when the electric power to the house disappeared, and whilst it happened at the most inappropriate moment (I was giving Vi a back massage and the others were watching Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in the final nail biting moments) we learnt to improvise quickly and we had some fun. It’s hard to think of a time without electricity. In England power cuts are brief (except for the ones I remembered in the 1970s), they last minutes, but this one lasted 2 days. No hot water, no cooking facilities, no fridge, no AC and an inability to charge gadgets! Eek! The situation made us acutely aware of our dependency on modern commodities to live our lives. There were times when we forgot to remember that we were powerless. Whilst cooking on a camping stove in candlelight (so obviously no electricity) we all had blonde moments:
Vi: ‘If you get too hot tonight Sheena without AC go in the spare room and put the fan on’ Lynne even carried the same fan into HER room on another occasion.
Sheena: ‘Let’s put the TV on and see what the news is’
Frank: ‘Lynne I’ll heat up your coffee in the microwave’
And as the outdoor pool was about to overflow due to three days of torrential rain Paul announced that he would use his recently acquired skill and empty out some of the water….forgetting he needed electricity.
When the lights finally came on again we cheered and celebrated. What luxury!
The old adage is so true.
You don’t know what you've got until it’s gone.