We have now been off from any electricity supply for just over 48 hours, in case you are interested. We feel pretty much outside of our comfort zone. Our day is shortened to the hours of the daylight, which at the moment go from 08h00 to about 18h00, here in Mallorca. We now do away with our usual afternoon siesta and find that we take our evening meal considerably earlier than usual. We can’t do our laundry nor many of the other duties that our everyday life would normally include. We have to get used to hauling up water by the bucket and heating it on the butano gas-run cooker.

But, there is no doubt that, despite all the inconvenience we have taken to the absence of any Gesa-Endesa services with surprisingly good humour. We do vividly complain about their customer service friendliness but, the surprise power blackout has given us an unexpected appreciation as well. We now feel a better sense of time in a house where there is now more darkness due to the shorter daytime sunlight. We enjoy the candle light and we generally enjoy what we have, instead of dwelling on what we lack. We go for walks and we enjoy playing family games. We don’t mind the absence of heating any longer; it’s surprising what an extra layer and another pair of socks can do. Also, we retire to bed earlier than usual and get more sleep and a better rest. The whole affair is like stepping out of one’s everyday life and entering a totally different frame of mind, not altogether an unwelcome or unfriendly one. In a way, one is almost grateful for having been forced to reevaluate everything that one would normally take for granted. After all, life is not just about one’s comforts or one’s daily blog ramblings.

The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: January 26th, 2010. The time was 08:22:06.