Let there be Light !

‘But the light hasn’t come on’ . Plugging in the mossy UV trap elicited no response from the charging light . Ah! The electric clock on the cooker is not showing also. We have no electricity. Something we expect at the flick of a switch wasn’t there . Another foundation of our existence looking shaky . After Covid , drought , fire and then no water ; this has been a year rattling those foundations .

Why not ( no electricity that is )… the first question to answer . Normally it’s a trip on one of the multiple earth leakage trips , design to prevent us from electrocuting ourselves, or a faulty appliance from burning the house down . So its down to the basement ,with torch needed now, to check the main house trip . No its OK , so off to the main gate to check EDF’s trip . Perversely it’s raining, so the mac ( coat not computer ) had its first outing for a very long time. 

The power outage is general ( ie not just us ) . First action is to release the clutch on the gate motor . No power and its impossible to open it , and my wife will shortly be returning ; so a priority action. Ringing Enerdis ( the company responsible for distribution unlike EDF who ‘just ‘ run the power plants ) , and pre-recorded nice lady informed that it was a major outage affecting as far as Perpignan. So in the space of the few minutes it had taken me to check , she had sprung into action ; impressive ! Let’s hope her colleagues can find and repair the fault as quickly .

With the return of the principal family member thoughts turned to the evening meal and fading light . Cooking no problem , the gas powered BBQ will suffice. For light, candles , although the light on that mossy trap would be safer ….but that needs charging , as does now the phone . My readership will remember that as part of fire prevention we now have a generator . It fired up first time ( well after I had remembered to switch it on ) .  This provided both charging , and with the fire pump in the pool, a potential water supply for the house . ( No electricity also means ,very quickly , no water .

So we can potentially withstand a power outage of several hours , several that is until the hot water cools and  the freezers defrost . I must workout  how solar panels can provide a longer term solution .  Fortunately the mains supply was promptly returned ,together with relaxation . However  this was a reminder that much underpinning our comfortable existence cannot be totally relied upon . 

Colours

 
The sunlight  had turned the water droplets on the fruit cage into a jewel encrusted spectacle . The trees had been washed clean of their summer dust , leaves ,a freshness hanging in the morning stillness . A day of the first rain in over 6 weeks had transformed all around into a kaleidoscope. I set off around  the fields exploring those colours , with Donovan’s song reverberating within my cranium .

Green is the colour of …. our new sprung grass in this morning. Its almost miraculous how a day's rain had transformed apparently dead yellow into green shoots .

Russet is the colour of the pine needles newly cast-off by the trees, to conserve water . The vibrancy of their colours contrasting with previous annual shedding .

The ferns too had responded to the drought by starting their winter hibernation early ; turning the colour of copper .

These colours contrasted with the dark dank oak leaves rotting on the floor . Here and there were lighter patches of newly turn soil , evidence of sanglier incursion . A 14,000 volt electric fence providing for them a minor inconvenience  . I have run out of passive deterrence  . Time to join the ranks of the chasseurs.

Looking up, Les Albères had been spruced up , rain restoring  a palet of colours . These too were accentuated by the white of the rolling mist ; the last remnants of that welcomed rainy day ( tourists probably not matching my enthusiasm) .