Candlelight

Okay, let me put you in the mood. Soft music is playing, a glass of merlot, and the soft flicker of candlelight; and you are just trying to make the best of a bad situation. You are all probably saying, "Now wait a minute Bev. What do you mean a bad situation?" Are you on a date with some obnoxious guy with bad dental hygiene?

It is nothing like that. Let me give you a few more details. The music is coming from a radio. It is a small transistor radio that has been kept in drawer for years and hardly ever used. The music is soft because the weak batteries are just about to go dead. The wine is room temperature. I prefer my wine chilled but today I am having it room temperature. The reason is that there is no refrigeration because the power if off. The only illumination is from candles because there is no power. Are you getting the picture? I am playing survivor in my own house.

So as I stand in the bathroom trying to position several candles to get maximum illumination and also to not pull a Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial, the music is interrupted by the sound of a sharp pop from outside. It is immediately followed by the sounds of crashing and then a loud thud and finally silence except from the now even fainter music. Another tree has just falling from the weight of its icy coating.

We were in the mist of a major ice storm this year that left 7 out of 10 homes without power in my county. I should be happy that I am in a semi-warm house. We have gas heat so without electricity to ignite the gas and to circulate the air, the temperature is falling inside too. At least I have a good supply of sweaters and the layered look is definitely in inside, but I will say that some mobility is sacrificed once to go beyond the second sweater layer. If I wait long enough the merlot's temperature will be just right. See you have to find something positive in every situation.

The radio just reported hotels and motels in and around the area that have electric are full. The electric company estimates that may take up to five days to restore power to some locations. Now you do not have to a rocket scientist to read between those downed lines that you will be lucky to see any light for the 48 hours at the earliest. A shiver just ran down my spine. The good news is that restaurant are doing a record business. Ah, now that is just what the Eskimo ordered - a nice hot bowl of vegetable soup where I can go and warm up. I suddenly had a mission. One which became an obsession. I had to go and now to get something hot to eat. My very being depended on my meeting that most basic of survival needs.

So now I have a new task to master and that is makeup by candlelight. Now I have never been very proficient with makeup. I get by but now I have this new challenge. The flickering candle makes the light dance across my face, which now means I have a moving target for my makeup. The foundation went on okay. I just took a glob (I think it is beginning to congeal) and smeared it all over my face. Now the tricky part comes. That is the magic wand of mass error. As I am posed to start, I wonder if the prime care doc-in-a-box is open if I poke my eye with the wand. And just how cold does it have to get before Hell and makeup freezes over. Now I thought, "what would any woman do in a situation like this." Most would go "au naturel." Well I just don't quite have the confidence level to do that yet. And believe me from what the radio said, I will be jammed in there with everybody and their brother which means that I will be under a lot of close scrutiny. I mean what else do you do while waiting in line to be seated but stare at everyone else in line. I just have to get my face somewhat close to right. And then it struck me as to how to do it. Just like millions of other women do everyday; I will put my makeup on in the car at the traffic light.

Keep those warm thawing thoughts coming.

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