It is interesting, being in the middle of an area that is hit by a natural disaster. While we and our particular location was spared any direct damage, and only were effected by a power outage for several days (power is still off, but we have our generator working now) we were quite cut off because our power, landlines, internet and cell phones were all cut off or severely handicapped, so until a couple of days ago, we had no idea how widespread and devastating the damage was. Our television and internet news were cut off, so our understanding of what had happened was mainly extrapolating what was being said by the local weather man when the power was cut off. Then for several days our time was mostly taken up with trying to figure out how and what to cook, working on our generator to (finally) get it working after 3 or 4 days, and moving food from fridge to freezer to our neighbors freezer to try and keep the food.
Then, the news started to shape up for us as we listened to the radio, and the magnitude of the damage became clearer, the loss of life climbed higher and higher and finally, yesterday getting online and Googling to see what was happening in the cities surrounding us, watching video footage of the Tuscaloosa tornado...pretty sobering, especially in light of the fact that I have been having a blast figuring out how to "make do" with what facilities we still have.
Those of you that know me at all, know that I long to figure out how to cultivate community as a way of living that regards highly the kinds of creatures we were created to be. I have found that having the power out is an excellent way to establish community. I would say there was at least a 20% increase in "natural" relating with our family and neighbors as we pooled resources and gathered to discuss what was happening, as well as several community-based meals as we figured out how to use the food that was defrosting in the community freezers.
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