Power Outages Always Remind Me of Sandisfield

My great aunt would always describe my mom, my dad, and I as a band of traveling gypsies. We are always on the move, going from place to place, moving back and forth every weekend. My great aunt makes it sound like we move to a new place every weekend, but actually my family would almost travel every weekend from Queens, New York to Sandisfield, Massachusetts. My dad in the 1980s built a house in the Berkshires to escape from New York City. My parents have been going every weekend and of course I would have to follow along.

I would have to say that I have spent half of my life in the country and half in the city. Sandisfield is the complete opposite of New York. In Sandisfield, we have no television, no internet, limited cell phone service, and the nearest shopping center is 30 minutes away by car.

I believe Sandisfield is why I am so close to my parents because I am forced to talk to them in the country. There are absolutely no technological distractions and to keep myself occupied I read, sleep, do my homework, and I learn how to cook. In Sandisfield, I have learned how to make homemade pancakes, BBQ, cranberry sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, and a slew of other delicious meals that I would make with my parents. We would always play board games after dinner, make some popcorn, and listen to vinyl records. When I go to the country, it is like going in a time warp because we even have a rotary phone.

To me the power outage was not to much of a big deal, because I know what it is like not to have the internet and t.v. for a while. My house, Dawes, was actually very lucky because we had running water, emergency lights, and heat. When the power goes out in Sandisfield, there is no running water or lights, but there is heat because we have a fireplace. This weekend reminded me of home and my parents and how much I miss spending time with them in Sandisfield. The next time that I will be able to go back if for Thanksgiving. It will be nice to take a break from the hectic, stressful, and sleepless days and nights at Smith.