Power is out again on Forest Hills and southern Fifeville. I drove home after the radio show and saw about six trucks on Cherry Avenue. Thankfully there's no work I have to do, but of course I'm going to find a way to be productive.
An inconvenience, but this is the type of thing we should all be ready for. I'm not. No candles, for instance. The world we live in is more fragile than we realize. I hope those who have been without for longer are doing okay this evening.
Second
It's getting colder. I have a hoodie, and three different computers I can use to keep myself busy until bedtime. I'm beginning to think thoughts such as "What if it's always this way?"
It's not far-fetched. We take so much for granted. We're going to need to be a more resilient people to get through these things. Right now, there's no one to blame for this specific incident. There are people all over the region working to get power back on for homes without. There are people monitoring the public safety airwaves for the additional incidents that come with cold and ice.
There are five trucks on Cherry Avenue working on the lines. I have no idea how power gets to my house. Buford Middle School is also out, but I suspect that's not a priority at the moment. Will there be school tomorrow? Many will be happy if not, there being a tremendous spike in COVID-19 with so many reports of breakthrough vaccines.
We need to be more resilient. We need to find ways to look at the systems that provide us with civilization and make sure they are secure. The future is uncertain, but that's the way it's been for humanity since the dawn of time. While we face some issues brought out by technology, the basic elements of our crises have been with our species forever.
It is our tendency to turn against each other that always makes me worry. We are all here, and are all necessary for the future to happen.
The power will come back on at some point, but there is a real need to figure what happened. What if we could have that conversation working together to identify solutions?
I have several trees in my yard that are severely damaged. Many of them are ones that should have been pruned by now. They've not faced a heavy snow like that before. I can imagine that's why we have so many power lines down.
I believe a good thing to do is to stop looking for a person to blame. Instead, look at the system to identify problems. All of us as humans are built for this. We've lived in a civilization that others have spend millennia building. We are their children.
I have hope. Even in the dark and the growing cold, I have hope. I can hear a train coming through, atop a ridge that divides my community. I have hope. In the darkness I turn to writing and come up with a plan to recharge in the morning if my short-term hope doesn't come to pass.
Resilience is multiple plans and a way to get through what needs to be gotten through. It's in all of us. It's in you.
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