Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bluff City News

What a week! On a scale of one to ten the misery index registered

about 9 plus. We were without power for 80 hours and some folks were without even longer. I noticed in the paper that this ice storm brought families closer together for some quality time. I beg to disagree. Any time without power cannot be quality time, especially if you have no heat.

It did give the young people an idea of what life was like back in the old days before electricity. Most people around here were farmers back then and their homes were just simple wooden structures with no insulation. The only running water to be found was down at the creek or at the spring. The bathroom was somewhere out behind the house, but at least everyone had some sort of wood heat.

Back in those days they didn't have the option of running to the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk and batteries, or going to get something to eat at the fast food place. They didn't have four-wheel drive pickups and four-wheelers. The farm animals had to be taken care of and the only light was from the fireplace or a coal oil lamp. They didn't have to worry about getting to work, because the work would be waiting for them when they got up each day. I don't know if people could survive like that these days.

Sometimes people call those "the good old days". I wonder why.

The experiences of the last week taught us to be prepared for emergencies, to be more neighborly and, above all, to have more patience.