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When heavy snow causes trees to crash, it is suddenly gone. All the modern devices I took for granted yesterday, now shut down. My wife and I must revert to candles, flashlights, oil lamps and cooking on the woodstove in the living room.

I worry about the batteries on my cellphone and iPad. I must recharge them out in the car. I search the outage maps online — when will they get back to my place? I worry, will my frozen steaks be ruined?

It feels like a return to homestead days on this winter solstice, 2017. All seems bleak and cold on this shortest day of the year. I glumly look out the window onto a black and white world.

Ah, but then, without warning, this ghostly power abruptly returns. Suddenly there are lights and colors and music. My water is hot and my ice cream is cold. The pump brings in well water, now I can flush. Lamps chase away the gloom and heaters warm the air. Colors twinkle on the tree, and the TV brings in music and Christmas celebrations from around the world. Dinner now simmers on the kitchen range and clothes flop in the dryer. Dishes emit steam when I open the dishwasher door. Batteries are recharged and my soul is recharged. All is once again warm and bright in my heart and in my home.

A big thank you, thank you, thank you to all the hardworking linemen and women of Avista and Northern Lights. They brave the dark, the cold, and the blizzards at 3 a.m. to restore electricity to our homes and businesses as fast as they possibly can. Thanks again linemen.

THOMAS GOOSSEN

Sagle