Sounds and Degrees

Very early Saturday morning, I was in bed wide awake wondering when the furnace would begin. Growing impatient, I got up to turn on a light. Two and two together made for a third, no light, no sound, all meant no power. What we have here is a overnight, classic winter storm. The sound of my chainsaw fills the morning air as I cut the many branches filling the driveway. Then I commence dragging the debris through the heavy snow to begin clearing it.

On the second day, the power company changed their forecast for the restoration from Sunday at four until Tuesday at 11. Naturally the house and the cabin were growing colder by degrees which meant in time my water pipes would burst. Not a pleasant visual.

About fifty years ago, I found out about portable power generators. This began my process of fifty years of procrastination until yesterday. I was able to get the only generator left in town to tool up for my problem solving adventure. Last night was the coldest night of the winter, and my new little "Cadillac", top of the line generator, was pressed hard in its efforts to stall freezing in two locations.

I had decided to stay up all night to keep it running, but as soon as it got dark, I realized that I couldn't see the opening to put in more fuel. Huddled in the dark on a couch, I finally heard it quit as it ran out of fuel. At the exact instant I was reaching for the door to take it out of the snow storm, another sound ticked my right ear.

What was this magic sound in the dark? Unbelievable, the furnace was firing up!