This past week, there was a windstorm in our area. This is fairly uncommon. While we experience a lot of cold weather and snow, we are not an area that is particularly known for strong winds. The wind was moving at about 70 mph in some places, which caused many businesses, homes, and streets to lose power. The stop lights on my street were out of power, so traffic was slowed down. Even the local grocery store had to close down because it was out of power. Normally, I don’t mind losing power. I think it’s kind of fun to sit by candlelight, disconnect from technology, and read a book or play a game of cards. However, given that it was the middle of the winter, this got old very quickly. After a few hours, we began to feel the impact of losing the heat. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and we didn’t have a whole lot of options. Growing up, my family home had a fireplace. Whenever we lost power, my dad would just grab some logs and heat the house the old fashioned way. Unfortunately for me, I no longer live in a house with a fireplace. Even if I did, I’m not sure I would know where to start when it comes to using it as a source of heat. Since the wind caused power outages all over the area, it took time for the power companies to come fix our issue. We were without heat for about three days. By the time the power turned back on, our house was in the forties! Even though I spent those three days bundled up in blankets and layers, I ended up catching a nasty cold. We definitely take the luxury of heating and cooling for granted.