This past week at my house has been an interesting one to say the least.

First there were the scheduled events: a lengthy orthodontist appointment on Monday, high school orientation and multiple parent meetings on Tuesday, first post-braces trumpet lesson on Wednesday, official start of school Thursday, and dog sitting on Friday.

Then there were the unscheduled events: Tuesday, sandwiched in between freshman orientation and the additional parent meetings in the evening, there the seismic event identified at the U. S. Geological Survey website as se082311a, the epicenter of which was Mineral, Virginia.

Then, very early this morning, in anticipation of Hurricane Irene coming ashore, I awoke to the sounds of the power going out at my house.

The fan stopped and my cell phone (which I had plugged in to charge in anticipation of the electricity going out today) made the noise it makes when the power supply to charge it is suddenly interrupted.

After checking the time and finding that it was not yet 4:00am, I went back to sleep; when I finally did get up, I found, to my relief, that my preparations in anticipation of the storm were sufficient.

Not only did I have everything needed to make coffee sans electricity, I was able to get breakfast with a minimum of fuss.

A side benefit of the power being out was that once there was sufficient daylight, there wasn’t much else I could do but crochet. Sitting in a rocking chair that had been used to rock my grandmother to sleep, I grabbed my 4.5 mm hook and worked my way through several small balls and partial skeins of yarn.

Shortly after lunch, I had a colorful array of rectangles and squares that I collected in a wooden bowl next to the rocking chair:

The bowl, made of wood and at one time used for making bread, has a storied history of its own having been used when its then owners crossed Nebraska in a covered wagon:

It isn’t every week that a person gets to experience an earthquake and a hurricane, all from the comfort of her own home, and while I live in what I would describe as the peripheral zone of these two natural disasters, every now and then it is helpful to be reminded that there are powers larger than ourselves.