Twilight's Last Gleamings
A forced disconnect and some worthy reflections
I’m a terrible sleeper. Always have been. I generally spend the wee, small hours haunting my own house, reading, writing, watching old movies and cradling endless cups of black coffee of varying temperatures.
Friday last was no different. I’ve been waking at 3.33 am on the dot for a while (any explanations or theories welcomed) and figured I’d venture downstairs and jot down some notes for a story I’ve been working on. Made coffee. Comforted the dog and told her to go back to bed. Put on some toast, during which everything went out. The power was gone. Storm Eowyn had arrived.
Considering we get a named storm every few weeks during winter, we had made sure to pack away any objects outside which might have taken flight during the 160km per hour winds which were forecast, but were a little nonchalant about it in the preceding days. Definitely underestimated what was to come. I sat in the dark, listening to the accumulating wildness outside. The increasing velocity and wailing of the blasts began to rattle the windows and I surrendered myself to both the all-encompassing blackness and uncertainty of the storm.
A few hours of tumult ensued, before the dawn came and, with it, an early reprieve. Or so we thought. Whilst the condensed gales had passed, the aftermath was to be felt all over Ireland. Around 750,000 homes were left without power, and many others with no phone signal, broadband or water. We were amongst this statistic (although, luckily, we had water) and the first day was enjoyable. Knowing we had to eat everything in the refrigerator made it feel like a little party, even if we couldn’t use the oven. We lit an open fire and all settled into the living room which was, admittedly, pretty cosy.
Not being able to receive or send emails, browse online, make random purchases, check banking, follow up on a thousand random tasks or delve into the hellscape of social media seemed nothing short of liberating. It also stopped me from going on various rabbit holes of information retrieval which, whilst momentarily satisfying, can also eat up an entire evening.
During the first night, I finished reading Jane Eyre, a very suitable choice for the weekend, and read Poe stories aloud to the children by candlelight before bed (The Tell Tale Heart was a big success). They were delighted at the prospect of having a sleepover and listening to the fire crackle as they drifted off.
The nights, however, were brutal. It started snowing on the first evening, which made the entire house feel like a meat freezer. This did nothing to dissuade the underlying Stanley Hotel feel to the place.
After a couple of days the novelty was wearing pretty thin. The constant cold, the inaccessibility of our village following the amount of fallen trees. It was starting to feel a little grim. Not helped by the lack of updates regarding restoration of services. We are fortunate to live near enough to amenities such as supermarkets and cafes, most of which were still operational, and so we were not in as bad a situation as many people were (and still are in numerous cases).
Many things had sold out, such as candles, which is why I ended up having to get creative and attain some grave candles instead (see above). They did the trick, adding to the ambience somewhat. This came in especially handy for the now nightly Poe stories, but the children drew the line when I read them the witches scene from Macbeth.
The overall headspace from a few days offline was phenomenal. A sense of clarity I haven’t felt in a long time, which allowed for a lot of reflection on my writing, work, my approach to the online world, and how my balance between those elements and my actual life. It was pleasant, helpful and restorative, if cumbersome and chilly.
Normality was iteratively restored, avoiding a full Jack Torrance situation, and we have only just got our broadband back.
Hoping anyone affected by the storm is getting their lives back to normal as swiftly and as comfortably as possible, which leads us to this point.
I’m a few Chapter Summaries behind for Rebecca. They will come, as I have them charted out (Why do I feel like I’m apologising for not doing my homework here?) but it’ll overlap into February at this rate.
We are reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë in February as part of the Gothic Book Club (burying the lede as always, Colin, great work), and there’ll be much more to come on that front too.
You’ll be hearing from me shortly. I need to catch up on some warmth, some sleep and then battle some gothic hordes in the morning as I try to secure Nine Inch Nails tickets. I’ve loved them for over 30 years. Haven’t seen them in 20. Wish me luck!
Most importantly, did you get your tickets???
We had a similar experience here when Storm Darragh hit. 3 days without power, 5 without Broadband or phone, and our house was built in 1820, so yes.