Power outage on the Gunflint Trail

These days most power outages on the Gunflint Trail are planned. The electric company knows something needs to be repaired so they pick a time of the day and day of the week where it will cause the least amount of inconvenience. I can honestly say it’s kind of nice when there’s no power. I don’t mean extended power outages where food spoils and we don’t have the ability to run credit cards for fourteen days like during the 1999 Blowdown just the ones where power is out for a couple of hours.

Even if you are sitting in a room without any electronic devices or lights on you can tell immediately when the power goes out. Everything becomes silent!  You never really notice the hum of all of the electrical devices until it isn’t there. No sound of the refrigerator running or ice machine or the hood exhaust in our kitchen can be heard when the power is out and it’s kind of nice.

When the internet doesn’t work and you can’t work on a computer or do much of any work because it’s dark inside you get to go outside. This is a good thing in the summer when the sun is shining. It’s the perfect excuse to take a little break. Sometimes a little quiet and a breath of fresh air is all you need to feel rejuvenated.