The effects of a power outage

Power outages are pretty common in this area. Since I moved back to Minonk 32 years ago, you can almost count on 4 to 5 power outages every winter. This seems like an inordinate amount. You hardly ever read about Chicago being without power during snowstorms. It doesn't seem like it takes much to create a power outage in Minonk. One reason for power outages in rural areas is high winds causing highline wires to touch each other on those highline towers that criss-cross the state. It makes me wonder how stable our power grid is for this area.

Judy and I lit candles during the power outage and sat it out. I was a little perturbed because the power went off in the middle of my composing tonight's editorial. I had written a brilliant essay on what a great guy I was. But I lost it all when the power went off. I knew that I could never recreate such an epic so I decided to write about the power outage instead.

Judy and I sat on the couch by the window with our dog Schotzi lying on my lap. There was absolute silence in the house. All we could hear was the howling of the wind outside. The candles created flickering shadows against the walls and ceiling. The dimly lit house took on a mystical appearance. In fact, it brought back faint childhood memories when the house was lit by kerosene lanterns.

We both sat in silence enjoying the solitude. It really was quite relaxing. It occured to me how bombarded we are by electronic sights and sounds. No wonder we are keyed up and anxious. It made me realize how beneficial a period of silence or mediation can be for the psyche.

The power outage made me realize how dependent we are on electricity. If it weren't for electricity, I would be writing this editorial by hand on a piece of paper. I am not too sure I could do that anymore. It makes me appreciate all the more the great writers of the past who had no access to computers or even typewriters. But then I also thought that maybe that is why our writers of the past were great. They took time to reflect and ponder before they put down the written word. Today, we bat out literary compositions like a gatling gun without giving proper thought to what we are writing. I wonder if the great writers of the past would have been even greater if they had the electronic conveniences that we have today. Not needing to worry about making a mistake or rewriting a sentence might have improved their writing powers.

Suddenly, I realized that if it were not for electricity and computers, I would not be writing editorials or anything else for that matter. I am ashamed to admit that I would not have the patience to be a writer if I had to do it by hand. And that brings me to another conclusion. I am sure there are thousands, if not millions, of people like me who also would not be writing were it not for computers. This means that there is an awful lot of articles, editorials, books, etc. being written today. In fact, there is so much information being disseminated today, that one has to be careful of cognitive overload from too much information.

There is no doubt in my mind that the ease in which one can write today has diminished the quality of writing because it allowed marginal writers to enter the fray. Thus we have spam and bogus articles of dubious accuracy inundating the internet. Today everyone can throw out their two cents worth for the world to observe.

Electricity and other inventions have made life much easier for us. However, it also has resulted in a culture that requires instant gratification. Just as writing today is probably less cerebral, other arts have also diminished in quality. Instead of detailed and realistic paintings, we have paintings of soup cans or splashes of paint that pass for art. Our buildings no longer have interesting detail or design because it takes too long to create such structures. Life is no longer slow and deep, but is fast and shallow. Maybe we need more power outages.