While this was not an apocalypse, this weekend did feel a bit unnerving. With food choices limited, I realized that sometimes, health and nutritional awareness just has to take a backseat in situations like this. Last night's dinner consisted of two bowls of cereal with yogurt and milk, with a side of lettuce and chickpeas. People ate cold bagels with cream cheese, others made sandwiches with cheese that, if kept out any longer, would quickly go bad. Dining services did the best they could do in this garbage dump of a situation, and at that point, we just wanted food in our stomachs and we didn't care what kind. We spent the rest of the night in the house playing games and sharing bags of Reese's Pieces and apples with peanut butter. Food and dining hall preference took a backseat since there really wasn't any choice; instead, we focused on playing card games, MASH, Monopoly, and Sardines (a "hide and seek" type game that is absolutely wonderful to play in a pitch black house). As horrible and devastating this storm was, it did provide us something: a chance to turn away from the technological mindset and remember the simple, "prehistoric" forms of fun that are almost always more rewarding than any Facebook chat.
Yesterday, some housemates and I went for a walk by the river. We had to climb over many trees blocking the path, but the walk was serene, quiet, and peaceful. This storm was very humbling - nature is more powerful than us sometimes, and we need to be reminded of that. This storm allowed us to surrender and give up control: control over our Internet image, over our email inbox, and over our food choices. For these past few days, things felt simple for a bit. Sure, reality hits us in the face when our papers and readings pile up, and precious trees are permanently damaged. Hopefully, we can come back to that simplistic part of life again, power outage or not.
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