It’s an Ill Wind

Now and then I find myself in a position to understand how my ancestors lived. Last summer the pond fish died from the heat, and the corn was flattened by a micro burst. That would have meant little food for the coming winter.
Yesterday I had a good reason to miss posting this blog. No electricity. No electricity meant no coffee. Irene had flooded the building where I work and left us without most of the modern amenities.
It was built in the 1850s. In those days a computer was a person who did arithmetic. Four times I reached for the mouse to look something up. Not bad for someone riveted to a computer most days.
While I missed my coffee, and had to eat cold soup for lunch, I didn’t miss the telephone or having to deal with the money in the cash register. The building was filled with natural light, so that it was possible to see well enough in the one room that had no windows. Pens on paper worked just fine. I don’t usually bring a book, but had slipped one in my bag as I left home. I read between chores. My job was to take all the heavy stuff off the counters and put it back in the lower drawers and cabinets.
Only one clock worked, and that was at the other end of the building from my desk. I knew it was time to go home when the staff started leaving.
When I got home I decided I needed a glass of wine more than a cup of coffee.