I spent Saturday night at my friend Kerri's house in honor of her 29th birthday. Since her own family was down and out with sickness she was hoping to avoid, my sister Lynn and I decided to keep her company with a sleepover/movie night followed by whipping up a special breakfast for her on her birthday morning. Well, the movie night part went off with out a hitch, but the torrents of rain and wind whipped up their own surprise for us on Sunday morning - no electricity. Happy birthday! Hmm, so much for the special breakfast. All of the local businesses were out of power as well, so going out for food wasn't an option either. We did manage to get her gas fireplace started, and by removing a few of the ceramic "logs" I was able to make a place to set a pot of water (luckily she was on city water or else I would have been giving a tutorial on the joys of rainwater catchment.) so the all essential cup of coffee could be made. We also were able to warm up a pan of lemon pecan danishes Lynn had brought, with the exciting ending that the pan lost its tenuous perch on the uneven logs and came shooting out of the fireplace, skidding to a stop right at the edge of the hearth. Hot cross buns anyone??

During this whole scenario, I couldn't help but be struck by the irony that here I was in a modern home with all the standard amenities and luxuries, but without that power grid umbilical cord it had very little to offer besides a dry place to camp out. Meanwhile, Joe was back home in a cozy cabin eating a hot breakfast, bustling around getting pies ready to bake in the earth oven. There was plenty of hot water on the woodstove for a nice warm bath. A whole week of sunny weather had filled the batteries with electricity for lights, music, movies, and the toilet always works! There's no place like home.

I spent Wednesday through Friday in bed sick. I'm usually done with most illnesses in 24 hours, so this one was definitely something stronger. Joe has been fortunate enough to slide through this sickly season unscathed so far. I hope his streak continues. We had scheduled a work together day on Thursday, and the weather provided the perfect day for us - one I got to experience through a window only. Joe continued on with a solo work day and got all of the wooden parts of the yurt oiled, repaired, and restacked ready for use. I'm hoping to go this Wednesday and talk with the Blue Ridge Yurts folks about whether they could fabricate us a new wall and for how much. Can't hurt to ask!