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Hurricane Irene came and went, leaving our backyard an array of leaves and our house regrettably without power.  The local damage was minimal.  Our neighborhood was merely plagued by a storm of leaves--my father cleaned up our yard within twenty-four hours.  As for the surrounding area: the road immediately outside of my neighborhood is still closed, two days later.  We are currently at hour forty-two without electricity; and in an area that depends on well water, this means: no shower, no toilet, and no sink.  Now, I know you're thinking that I smell like a hobo on the side of the highway. 

On day one, I resigned myself to smelliness.  I called out of work due to lack of shower and two closed roads outside my neighborhood.  When my parents went to the Orioles game in the evening, I stayed at home, listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a book on CD.  I worked on a jigsaw puzzle by flashlight, and I cooked steak and eggs on the grill. 

On day two without power, we kindly asked our neighbors if we could use their shower--they have a generator pumping energy through their entire house, including their water heater.  After a quick shower, my father returned home with a *ta-da* generator.  Ours does not have the capacity to juice up our well water, but it's enough to power our refrigerator, two freezers, a television, our outdoor pond filter--after the loss of two fish, it was necessary--my mother's computer, and FioS.  In short, we are working with what my mother would consider the bare minimum.

Personally, I could do without the television; while I love watching mindless, trashy television--and, of course, 1 Girl, 5 Gays--I don't really need television.  I discovered I really don't need internet either.  While I checked Facebook occasionally from my Blackberry, I didn't need to waste hours online--especially on such limited battery.

It's nice to know that when I move out on my own--and need to give up the luxuries I'm used to, like 900 channels--I will be able to manage with less than what I am used to.