Dual said it best...

During the storm of the decade, which hit December 30, Young Dual said, "We rely way too much on electricity."

Dual is a very smart young man. We do. Of course, it took a power outage during a winter storm for him to realize how much we rely on electricity, but that's when it really hits home.

You need electricity to run your natural gas furnace. (the thermostat is electric. The blowers are electric.)

You need electricity to bake. You can cook on top of the natural gas stove, but these newer ones have a glow bar in the oven that ignites the natural gas, no pilot lights. So, no electricity, no baking.

You need electricity to have water. The well pump needs electricity to pump the water to the house and to the animals.

You need electricity to run the lights.

You need electricity to run the wood pellet stove. (The auger and the blower need electricity.)

Fortunately, we had a generator. Said generator's pull cord broke when trying to start it. Fortunately, I'm married to a handy guy who jerry rigged something to get it running. (Thank god for long shoe strings!) We then could plug in the pellet stove and had heat.

Fortunately, I had an old oil lamp, and lots of candles. So, we had light.

Fortunately, I can cook lots of meals on the stove and we didn't HAVE to have the oven.

Fortunately, the kids know how to entertain themselves. They played outside during the daylight hours and played cards and other games after dark.

Fortunately, we got lots of snow to melt...for water to flush the toilets and to wash up in.

Fortunately, I stock up on food staples. W had plenty to eat. And drink, I also stocked up on bottled water.

Fortunately, I like my neighbors, so welcomed them to our better-insulated and pellet-heated home. (We had fun!)

Fortunately, we have a good friend who could meet us at the highway with more gasoline for the generator and the tractor.

Fortunately, we didn't lose any livestock. We might only get 3 eggs a day instead of a dozen, but everyone is still alive and well.

Fortunately, we got our power back quickly. 13 days later, there are still many folks here in KS without power.

Yes, Dual, we DO depend entirely too much on electricity.