Well, the Universe continues to operate in the manner I've come to expect.

Last night I finally had an evening in which nothing seemed particularly required of me. I was not need at the power plany, the Forest Service, the police department, the Church or for the dissemination of Wisdom and Enlightenment. So, foolishly thought I, that it would be a pleasant evening to play my preferred computer game (Civilization III,) surf the web a bit, maybe listen to some music and chat with my Lady on the phone. But no.

Those of you who would go out of your way to rescue a baby kitten from a tree, who would risk personal injury to keep a friend from driving drunk, who believe that life should be a wonderful adventure full of discovery and joy will have already realized that something bad was about to happen.

First there was the little wind storm. About the time that I was getting ready to make my phone call, a roaring began to rise outside. And rise and rise. Of course it got a little hard to hear the roaring per se, as the winter weather covering over my front upstairs window began to flap and shriek.

The shrieking and roaring helped to amuse me as I had to start shouldering the plywood that covers the window in the fall and winter. I was naturally having to shoulder it since it was blowing in and moving the file cabinet in front of it along the floor.

This only went on for an hour or so, easily dismissed as an aerobic workout before enjoying the rest of the evenings pleasures. And then it got dark. Really dark. The kind of dark that says, "hey you live in the middle of nowhere and it gets exceptionally dark around here this time of year."

So, being an ever vigilant EMT, I called the police department and asked if they needed someone to go to the office and monitor the phone for 911 calls, since the automated system crashes without electricity.

Well, the evening was going downhill fast, but this should be a short stint at the station. Two hours later the emergency lighting went out. An hour after that the phones died.

Also it had been discovered that the power was out because a large tree had blown down on a main power line- and wouldn't be fixed until sometime after dawn.

So with the help of Jody the Amazing Boy Cop we rigged a basic phone for any 911 calls. I moved a table over next to the phone and climbed under some blankets appropriated from EMS. All of theses activities being performed by flashlight, you understand.

So I settled back to keep from freezing until daybreak, when the morning dispatcher came in and miraculously the power came back on.

So now, a new ordeal faced me. One that I had put off about as long as I had dared. An ordeal only somewhat less painful to me that the unfortunate "setting myself on fire" incident that my closer associates as well as anyone who lived in earshot at the time will remember.

And the ordeal was, housecleaning. Oh how I hate house cleaning. It is full of little unpleasantnesses, like finding things you thought were in good order broken, having to make painful choices about what stays and what gets thrown out, discovering that some things get all fuzzy and soft in dark and forgotten corners.

But I made a good start on it today, and expect to continue for the next few days. Indeed I must, my Sugar-Pie-Honey-Bunch has given me that inspiring phrase that women have used since time out of mind, "or else."