The suprising things a long power cut taught me

Last Monday was really rainy and windy, so I wasn't that surprised on Tuesday when I woke up to find we had no power. Other than missing a morning cup of tea and breakfast, I wasn't that bothered and assumed by the time I got home in the evening, normal service would be resumed.

Well during Tuesday, the storm continued. On reflection I shouldn't have driven. With traffic lights out, multiple roads closed due to fallen trees and flooding, it was not a fun day to be out on the roads. That evening the power still wasn't back on, but luckily I managed to find some matches and candles by the light of my phone.

As I've written about before, I'm a chronic night owl. Even if I go to bed early, I'm just not tired – I can lie there for hours, willing sleep to come. I've tried everything. For months I've been waking up early to an alarm, the theory being I'll eventually be so tired, I'll have to start getting sleepy at an earlier time. I stopped using my computer in the evenings. I turn off all but some dim side lights in the evenings. So I assumed on Tuesday, the unusual feeling of deep sleepiness at 7:30pm was due to the stressful driving conditions. But on Wednesday night, still with no power, I spent the evening reading by candle light – and was hit by the unusual feeling of tiredness at a similar time. And the next day – and the next. By the end of the week – after just a few days, I was waking up before my alarm. This never happens.

Finally power returned late on Saturday night – and I've still not turned my tv on. I've realised it had become a habit turning the tv on, I wasn't putting it on because there was something special I wanted to watch, but because that's just what I did in the evening. I haven't missed it at all – and I wonder how much part this has played in my new sleep pattern? I'm not sure if it's the light, or the stimulation – or perhaps both, but tv and artificial light have clearly not been helping my sleep pattern.

I've realised how much I really, really appreciate my washing machine, hot water, oven and fridge/ freezer – but the other things – perhaps I need to do without.