“You know, with these high winds, we could lose the electricity.” When I said that to Dear Richard last Saturday, he shrugged, but thought it probably wouldn’t be for long, as usual. After more than a few years in this Banana Republic, I said, “We’ll see.” And just because I had that strange ESP feeling, I went to the den, shut down my computer, and pulled the plug. Not a minute too soon.

It was early afternoon, when suddenly the lights went out, along with the Golf Channel, and my oxygen concentrator. Since Covid #2, oxygen is my constant companion. No problem. That’s why I have a portable supply.

Being early afternoon, we didn’t consider it much of a problem. The lights were back on in minutes. And then they were out again. C’mon, Pennelec, make up your mind. Off, on, off – and then, they stayed off.

None of this was unusual. It happens often enough to be accustomed to the inconvenience. My problem with Saturday’s outage was that I had planned to do some writing.

When the lights were out for more than 20 minutes, I thought maybe I can use my laptop on the battery. I nestled into my seat at the end of the den sofa, pulled the computer onto my lap and pressed the button to raise my footrest. Naturally, the electric recliner didn’t budge. Duh. I got up and headed for the living room, determined to make a comfy seat with the wing chair and footstool. I was ready to get back in business. And the light from the large bay window was better than the den.

I just got settled when the sky turned navy and the strong winds whipped the rain sideways. The living room grew too dark to read in conjunction with my computer work. Then, an aha moment: my small, clip-on, goose-neck, reading light. I’ll go fetch it from my nightstand. It’ll be perfect!

Yup, the light WAS big enough, but getting it clipped on to stay in place – not so much. It drooped from the top of my sweater like a drunken lizard hanging by its tail. Well, maybe just another stabilizer. I went to the kitchen and took a big clip off the potato chip bag. Success!

I laughed when I realized how ridiculous the tech-savvy combo I’d cobbled together must have looked: a phone headset for calling my computer guru, glasses for the small print, oxygen canula in my nose and looped around my ears, and a bendy, black light tucked under my chin. Cute! I shoulda taken a selfie.

Nothing was really comfortable – my jerry-rigged balancing act produced very little writing. So I sat there – just thinking.

We’ve had many bad storms, the worst outage being 4 1/2 days a handful of years ago. That time, we lost some large branches, and one uprooted pine tree that landed across our neighbors’ driveway. We did lose two refrigerators full of food, but the insurance company took care of it.

I realized how very lucky we have been, thinking of all the families and towns that have lost everything. Night after night, we’ve been watching the heartbreak in Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana and more.

My thoughts turned to gratitude for living in this part of the world. – no raging fires, no mudslides, no earthquakes, no sinkholes, no major flooding, no hurricanes, rare tornadoes, and no heat waves that break the electric grid. Plus, we have enormous amounts of potable water. Grey skies hovering over our snowfalls from November to March seems a small price for year-round safety.

Feeling reassured, I snapped back to reality – the outage at hand.

Let’s see, no running a load of laundry, no head start on making dinner, no televised golf tournament. A book was the best idea.

As hour three approached, Dear Richard asked about dinner. I could whip up a salad – by opening the fridge – but a salad doesn’t usually work for this meat and potatoes man, and our outside grill has two empty tanks. As I thought back to the “big storm” and all the food we lost, I passed on opening the fridge.

During hour four, phone calls to downtown were futile. Most places were closed, but Subway was hanging in there. We ate 6-inch subs for supper.

When the lights came back on, Hallelujah! – I returned to my electric recliner. I raised the footrest, settled in with the computer and … the lights went off again. And stayed off. I was trapped in a seat that I couldn’t get out of. Let’s just say that my lengthy process of removing myself could have been featured on America’s Funniest Home Videos. Not pretty.

Yes, it was early afternoon when the lights went out. By early evening on that howling Saturday, we were back in business.

Once again, we were lucky and I was left with another realization: Accept our occasional inconveniences without whining; Appreciate our blessings, our good luck, our comfort.

And explore buying a small generator – just for my recliner.

Marcy O’Brien can be reached at Moby.32@hotmail.com.