Wild Weather Enforces Quiet Time

The wind was so strong here in the last couple of days that I'm sure we were nearly blown to the other side of the world! All of Tasmania was caught up in cyclonic wind conditions, in fact I've heard that a suburb not that far away had a small tornado as well.

Circling wind for sure and it was easy to tell that something special was happening. We had one tree come down, falling towards the East, just missing the house by a couple of feet. The neighbour had two trees down, one falling North and the other to the South. No wonder our eyes have been doing mini circles!

Then to top it, last night, just as dusk fell, the blackout came! Blackouts are never fun but out here in the country (which we are still getting used to) it means... no flushing toilet; no shower, in fact... no water! No power and no heat or any kind, as our gas heater requires electricity to run. Ugh!

There is the fun side though... out come the candles and the gas camping cooktop, and virtually straight after dinner (soup and toast) it was off to bed. Doesn't ever happen that way but last night we became more "birdlike"!

Today they said that virtually all Tasmania would receive a dumping of snow, but we're yet to see that. In fact today was a lovely still sunny day.

Fortunately, just under 24 hours (tonight just before dinner again) our power was restored. Now it's fairly obvious that we'll have to look for some measures that prevent us from being plunged into the total loss of all mod cons... if we stay here.

(Update) I wrote this yesterday but didn't get to post it. The snow did come but not on our side of the island... not even a threatening cloud! The power was restored just before dinner last night so was out for a total of just under 24 hours.)

But why did I tell you all this? Well, when you have no internet, and your mobile phone is asking to be recharged, it throws you into a completely different realm. Here was I in the middle of so much online... and then suddenly nothing. The battery on my laptop lasts only for about an hour, so I didn't go there.

So what did I do today... I brought out the pen and paper - remember... the old fashioned way! I sat quietly and thought, jotting down many things, and in my mind I double checked the direction of where I'm headed with WA and my website.

During this enforced "quiet time", I've managed to get my plans in place. As a result, there are some things I'm going to change... but really... it's so much easier to think when you are away from the computer. We really do need to make sure it's not ruling our life as it seems to want to do.

I use a large notepad and write down all my ideas and thoughts. I like to scribble quickly and relay all the things going on in my head to paper. Then from that I sort it into some kind of order.

In fact, most nights before retiring I find it really helpful to commit to my notebook what is the most important thing I should attend to the next day. That way it's safely on paper and I don't have to worry about it in my head. :-)

How many others find it easier to think when way from the computer?