The electricity was out for two stretches today, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, for a couple of hours apiece, as the remnants of Ernesto passed through the area.

The faucets went dry because the pump for our well is electric.

I tried to control my concern, trusting that the power would be restored before too long. I mean, I don't live in a third-world country, do I?

I wonder at that sometimes especially because the power goes out with every summer storm.

My concern was doubly-stoked by a fresh episode of Surviorman on The Science Channel: Surviving Urban Disasters.

Doing without water with young children in the house is trickier than going it alone.

I know this from experience.

Ten years ago, a deep freeze in Jersey (not to be confused with Freehold's famous "Jersey Freeze" ice cream joint) locked up our townhouse's water pipes for a full seven consecutive days.

Jeff and I spent most of our waking hours at work in those days anyway, so it was just a small adjustment to shower and take more meals at the office. This was during Jeff's brief assignment at the Holmdel building, a time when we worked at the same facility, and the building had a nice locker room in the basement.

Decorum prompted us to sneak in as early in the morning as possible so that no one see us with "bed head". Breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria and dinner from the vending machines. In the course of seven days, I started to get annoyed by the inconvenience of it. Just the hassle of the extra coordination and consideration involved in not having running water at home.

I knew it couldn't go on forever, that eventually the weather would turn and the pipes would thaw. Still, I was weary of it. So, I remember, laying in bed just before going to sleep and saying to God, "You know what, I'm ready for this all to change. I'm ready for the water to come back on, please." And, no sooner had I said that, then I heard the toilet tank in the master bathroom begin to fill with water. I can't think of another instance when a prayer had been answered so immediately.

And I thought, "Well, morning would have been soon enough."