The storms knocked out the power in my neighborhood for 26 hours. A very long 26 hours indeed.

It was like the Stone Age. No TV. No computer. No Internet.

No lights. No matter how many times you hit the light switches out of habit, uh-uh, they're not coming on.

Fortunately I had a couple of camping lanterns. So I got my flashlight, and went looking for the batteries for the lanterns.

Then I had light, but nothing to read. I've got some paperback books somewhere. Couldn't find them.

I moved the cheese from the fridge to the freezer. (Gotta save the cheese.)

I remembered my cell phone. Smart phones! The world in the palm of your hand! The battery was running low, so I braved the storm long enough to use the car recharger. That bought me enough time to check the news headlines ("Winter Storm Knocks Out Power!" No kidding?).

When the power finally came back on, I celebrated by making toast. Ahh, the things we take for granted.