October 5 --- A Six-Hour Power Outage

The day began uneventfully enough --  not much of a sunrise, so I photographed a huge cloud that was being lit up by the rising sun --

Then "False Portal Peak" and the clouds over it -- 

The forecast for the day was possible thunderstorms. Clouds both hung over, and wreathed, Cave Creek Canyon and Portal Peak, and boy, did they make for dramatic images, especially with the areas of sunlight -- 

It looked like I had only a small window to do anything I'd planned on doing -- so I did it. One of the things was to sweep out the well house. Mice had been in there, and they'd left a lot of droppings that probably would have given anyone else the Hanta virus. The other day, on the advice of a few friends, I placed boxes of Irish Spring soap bars around the well house; it works to keep mice out -- and it really DOES work; for some reason they don't like the smell. So I punched holes in the boxes and placed them outside. Then today I put on a mask over my nose and mouth that I use when weed-whacking, and swept up the mouse droppings inside. I'd timed it perfectly, as about an hour or so later it started to rain -- hard. I checked my "Radar Now!" app on my iPad Mini to see how large the system was -- and it was just over the Chiricahuas; no flow coming from the south as it does during the monsoons. So I knew it wouldn't last long, and it didn't -- about a half hour. The sun came out in spots and the mountains were "shiny" from the rain --

Shortly after lunch, I laid down for my usual afternoon nap -- having been up since the usual 2am -- then heard a click. I didn't think anything of it until I looked at the clock -- and it was blank. I checked the clock on the electric stove -- also blank. All the power had gone off, and you have to remember that Faranuf is all-electric. After about an hour I called up (on my cell phone; the landline was dead) Helen, my friend and neighbor, to see if her power was out, too, and it was. It's happened in the past, but usually not for very long, so at the beginning no one was too worried. But then minutes turned into hours, and I began to get concerned about the items in my refrigerator, which is a 2-door fridge and freezer (I'd thankfully unplugged the full-size freezer as it was, well, overkill). I called up the electrical company and asked if they were aware of the power outage in Portal, and the very abrupt-sounding woman merely said "yes" and didn't volunteer even when it might be resolved until I asked her -- "we don't know". So I went out and pulled some weeds as I was getting bored and wanted to do something, anything, that was constructive during the outage. Soon it was after 5, and still no power. I tried calling the electric company one more time -- and the power on my cell phone was down to about 20% -- and got a recording as they closed at 5pm. I then realized the importance of having the cell numbers of my neighbors since the landlines were down. And I only had the cell number of my friend  Helen, who was in Douglas, 50 miles to the south. By this time it was starting to get dark. I got out my Coleman lantern and powerful flashlight, batteries for them, and a case of water that I had in the garage. And it was during this time that -- the water went out. I'd forgotten that the well also was electric, and I'd drained the water heater dry with silly things like cleaning the hummingbird feeders and watering Desert Willow (I'd first noticed the water situation when the water from the hose stopped). I should have, say, filled the bathtub with water to use for washing, etc., but now all I had was the bottled water. It was going on 7. I called the power company one more time before my cell phone died, and got a recorded message saying there was a massive power outage in Animas, Rodeo, Portal and surrounding areas  -- a sizable area as Animas, New Mexico is at least 25 miles from Portal, Arizona. And there was no estimate of when the power would be restored. So I settled in for a night of no power -- and wondered about the items in my fridge, including 2 bird specimens I had in the bottom of the freezer (I have a permit to keep bird bodies -- wrapped and bagged up tightly, of course, and give them to LA's Museum of Natural History's Ornithology department). Then, shortly after 7pm, the power went back on -- WHEW! I checked to make sure everything was working properly; I didn't know if I had to do anything with the well, or hot water heater, but they were both running fine. And I turned on the heat pump that heats and cools Faranuf, and that was running fine, too. As I'm watching some friends' house while they're on a trip, I go over to their place to make sure everything is ok, and it is. But in leaving I lock the screen door twice -- and one of the locks is only locked from the inside. It was a habit that I got from locking up Faranuf, did it without thinking. Now I have no way of getting back inside their house -- and they're in Tucson and will be flying out the next day. I call them up, telling them what happened, and after a couple of "oaths" they gave me a probable solution -- which thankly worked that did not involve breaking in or leaving any damage. By this time it was 8:30 and I was exhausted -- but I still woke up this morning at 1:30am. But it was just another day of livin' the rural life...