February Storms in a Country That Still Works-for Now

The article describes the challenges faced during severe winter storms, highlighting life in a remote farmhouse without power. It explores the harsh realities of isolation, including reliance on wood stoves for heat and candlelight for illumination. The author reflects on the suddenness of blackouts, the tension of waiting for electricity to return, and the underlying belief in a well-functioning society. The piece reveals a growing anxiety rooted in societal unpredictability and a longing for collective stability during disruptive times.

Staying home is a gamble. To stay home is to risk being stranded in an isolated farmhouse without power for days. Everything stops. We worked with this for years, moving into the kitchen where there is a wood stove, lighting kerosene lamps and candles to read by at night, dreading the onset of the dark.

It brings back the reality that you live in a country that works, where you expect to have running water, the roads to be plowed, to get out and get around.

But we now live in a moment and in a country where suddenly people everywhere-like the vast collection of animals we are-turn their eyes to the center.

Read at The Nation