Front Porch Stories: Discovering my shortcomings amid Helene chaos

By KATHY BOHANNON, Special to The Coweta Shopper

There are times in life that we become, for whatever circumstances, acutely aware of our shortcomings. When hurricane Helene blasted through parts of the southeast, I discovered a plethora of my own shortcomings.

That discovery is not pretty.

Our power went out and at this writing, has been out for nearly 24 hours. It’s hot. Though there are no toddlers in my home, the furniture feels sticky. I have a battery-operated lantern beside me as I pen this essay. I’m dressed in as little as possible because people keep coming to our door. If not for that I wouldn’t be dressed in anything except for what momma called “underroos”. I have forgone anything with a waistband and have succumbed to what can only be called a mu-mu. It’s from a dollar store, purchased by my husband in a season where I had surgery and needed something practical. It is currently the uniform of the day, with prancing elephants and mosaic-link stripes. As much as I dislike it, it has proved to be perfect for things like surgery recovery and a season of no air conditioning.

I’m old enough to remember when there was no such thing as Internet and cell phones. We wished for “TV” phones, where we could communicate face to face. We wished we didn’t have to untangle that long, stretched-out cord from the kitchen wall just to be able to go into the adjoining room for some phone privacy.

As far as the Internet is concerned, we didn’t wish for anything there, because it was not on our radar. We had a full shelf of encyclopedias that our parents made payments on for 18 months. Anything and everything we ever needed was found in those heavy tomes marked A-B, then C-D and so on.

We had transistor radios that would squawk and squeal as we dialed between stations. At some point we even had something called FM that offered clear, amazingly high-tech sound. Who could want for anything else?

In a whoosh of time, we came into the era of high-speed Internet, buried power lines and cell phones that can do more than those old freezing computer rooms.

Besides my attire, here’s what isn’t pretty: I am hot. There is no Internet. I needed to know how my grandchild is after a hospital stay, but there is no cell service. My text messages are sporadic and few are going through. I finally got confirmation that she is doing well tonight.

Also not pretty: there is a generator that is buzzing a constant reminder of our despair. I am beyond thankful that it is keeping our refrigerators running, but if the power doesn’t come on soon I can’t be held responsible for what I might do in this ugly mu-mu.

Certainly worse than anything we are experiencing are those dealing with flooding, being stranded, needing the basic necessities and coping with loss of life. Our prayers go out to all of them as well as the workers trying to assist.

Tomorrow is another day. I am hoping to toss that elephant mu-mu into the washing machine and dryer, then hang it up for the next crisis. I’m hoping to reply to the many texts that I haven’t been able to reply to. Yes, I am spoiled and wouldn’t last five minutes in one of those off-grid places that so many want to live in. I’ve already lived there; it was called the 1970s.

Edit: We now have power and water, waiting on cell and Internet. Please pray for North Carolina.

Kathy Bohannon can be reached at [email protected].