Every June, McBride sponsors “Pioneer Days” a celebration full of early settler activities. Although, not exactly the same, over the last two nights, we have been unwillingly participating in an activity that seems very similar to those during the days of the pioneers.
The Robson Valley has been experiencing two days of very strong winds. Periodically these strong winds have blown trees down across the power lines, causing electrical outages. For two consecutive nights (strangely it hasn’t happened during the day) we have had to live without electricity, just like the pioneers. On four hours on Wednesday, and three hours last night, we spent our evenings, sitting in the semi-darkness, illuminated only by candlelight (and a couple of battery-powered flashlights).
We often complain about how quickly time has been passing, it seems like every time we turn around the week has gone. We certainly did feel the fast passing of time during the power outages; the time just crawled, and c r a w l e d, as we waited for the power to come back on.
The outages certainly make us realize how much we depend on electricity for our entertainment at night. Fortunately, we eat our evening meals early, so that was not a problem last night (it was on Wednesday), but getting through the evening without television, the internet, and reading, sure is. Luckily, we have a wood stove, so heating isn’t a problem, and we have gravity-feed water, so that also works when the power goes off, but living without our electronics is sure a drag.
Whenever a tree causes a power outage, it takes a while for it to be corrected. The crews that fix it are centered in Valemount, which is an hour away from McBride, so it always takes an hour just for them to get here, then they still have to take more time to fix the problem.
The bright spots in the photo above, shows a burning candle on the coffee table, in the lower foreground, the fire burning in our wood stove (in fireplace mode) in the middle of the picture, and above that another burning candle on the mantle.
We will be very happy to have the wind quit for a while.
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