Letter to the Editor: A Perspective on Losing Power

Among all the headaches that losing power brings with it, and the loss of  the conveniences we take for granted every day, here is what I experienced during last week’s power outage: quiet! No computer running, no compressor running on the refrigerator, no radio, no phone ringing (our landline), no washing machine or dryer running. 

With no power, I could hear the hummingbirds at the feeder outside my kitchen window and the wind blowing through the trees outside. The ticking of our wind-up mantel clock from the 1890s from the other end of the house. I could even hear the breathing of my Saint Bernard as he napped by the back door. Things you don’t notice or can’t notice when the power is on and all our stuff is running. 

For me at least, it was a welcome reprieve from all the background noise we all live with everyday. Or maybe at 67, I am getting old and sappy about this stuff. 

Jeff Bloeser

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin