20150823.0630

Yesterday was not the best day.

I had meant to spend the day at work on my writing, taking the time to push through a freelance piece and then to move on to other bits of work that need doing. It was going to be a good day to do it; the Mrs. was going to work her short shift (since the place she works is only open half-days on Saturdays), and around the time she got home, Ms. 8 would go down for her nap. I would be able to work then and afterwards, completing the freelance order and therefore getting more money; I would afterwards be able to do other writing entirely, possibly getting ahead on things for a change. All three of us at Sherwood Cottage would be happy with how things fell out.

Such was not to be, however. We had a storm roll through between Friday and Saturday, and in the morning, after I had written here and had begun work on the freelance piece (as Ms. 8 was still asleep, or seemed to be), high winds and substantial rainfall conspired to drop branches and limbs from trees. They also ended up bringing several trees down altogether, including one that fell onto the power lines that supply Sherwood Cottage with electricity. Power was out here for more than twelve hours. Consequently, I could not work, not and still take care of the things that needed caring for--for Ms. 8 was wholly discommoded by the disruption to her routine, and our eating went wacky, since neither our refrigerator nor our cookery could be deployed. (I have a grill, yes, but it does not start so well in the rain. Electric stoves are problematic, too.)

Matters did eventually get corrected. The city utility folks were hard at work all day; ours was not the only power outage in the area, and there was a *lot* of tree to remove from the supply lines leading to us. (The break occurred between other lots than ours.) I find no fault with their work; indeed, when there have been utility problems, the workforce in the area has been good about attending to them. Still, it was annoying to have lost a day--and a hot, humid one, at that.

I recognize, however, that it was *only* an annoyance. Our water still flowed, and we were able to ensure that our food did not spoil. (I am pretty sure we did...) And the power came back on relatively soon, particularly given the circumstances. I am not unmindful of the larger perspective. That does not mean, however, that I am pleased to be playing catch-up yet again today--as I always seem to be, anyway. Several thousand words of freelance work remain to me, and other jobs are in the offering. Preparations for the next week of teaching need making; I should write as I ask my students to write. And there is other work to do, besides. As ever.