In the dark

It seems so fitting that one of my daughter's first engaging toys was one of our headlamps.  Nine months out of the year, we don't go anywhere without one.  And now at age two, she knows how to turn each variety on and off, and how to put them away when she's done.  That part is really key... because batteries are precious and life saving- and they won't do you any good if you can't find the light when you need it.

Nope, there's no night lights around here.  When you wake up in the black of night, you find a headlamp hanging on the bedpost or under your pillow, and it becomes your best friend.  Life is so much more doable now that we have moved on from flashlights to the realm of the headlamp.  And they just keep getting brighter and more compact with longer battery life.  Love it.

Fast forward to this dark morning, as I rolled out of bed to start my day.  My family was mostly fast asleep, but Ben handed me a headlamp as I crawled over him.  Grab a robe and stumble across the toy covered floor toward the spiral staircase.  Kick the small childs bedpost with an already injured knee and the morning has begun.

Navigate the handbuilt steps by headlamp glow and head for the woodstove.  Fire's out.  Go back upstairs to get dressed, put on knee high snowboots and gauntlet gloves and posthole out to find the kindling pile, buried under two plus feet of snow.  Dig it out by hand, thankful for that headlamp and clothes that keep me dry.  Stumble back to the cabin to start a fire.

Turn around to put the kettle on the propane stove, to heat water for coffee.  Propane's out.  Out the door again, first to the tool tent to locate a crescent wrench, then to the house propane shack.  Unscrew the empty 100 pound bottle, dump it over onto the packed trail and push it uphill to the snowmachine sled.  Then go down to the bunkhouse, unscrew that half-full 100 pound bottle and push it uphill toward the cabin and downhill to the hookup.  Wrestle it into place, rethread it and turn it on.

Back into the house to light the stove and the propane fridge.  Restart the woodstove.  Get coffee going. Go back outside again to start the generator in this dark time of year.  Remember, no solar power until February, and the wind tower isn't up yet.  And just like magic, light fills the cabin and the chicken house.  The computer comes on, and here I am talking to you, while my family rests.

My headlamp is right here next to me on the computer desk though, you never ever know when the generator is going to burp and the lights will go out.  But I'm prepared.  I feel like I've tackled the world already this morning and its only 9:12 am.  Its going to be a great day.

Comments

[Linda]

Headlamps - like you put around your head???

[[Lisa Rae]]

Yeah, like a very compact flashlight that straps around your forehead...