#onota

Onota Lake

Pittsfield, MA

I can't stop with these girls!  Too cute.

Not that I'm all that scared of heights, but I'm generally an extremely risk-averse person, which tends to make me boring.  Exhibit A: I will not go on a roller coaster with you, or with anyone.  I also won't go skydiving, scuba diving (I want to!  I want to!  But I don't want to participate in an activity where the sole purpose is to not die), or base-jumping, or white-water rafting (but that's because I had a bad experience).  I am not a daredevil.

It was a very pretty forest in the Berkshires, and we went ziplining.  Ziplining is not very risky.  But I still felt like a liiiiiiittle bit of a daredevil, and like I was sooooort of stepping outside my comfort zone.

It was fun, but I'm still more comfortable on the ground.

Where there are flowers and where I can switch lenses.

...but only for so long.

On Tuesday afternoon, a huge storm ruffled the feathers of Western Massachusetts, breaking down power lines, felling trees, whipping winds and toppling chairs.  We watched from inside the house as a 25-foot branch crashed to the ground, fifteen feet from our windows (lucky).  [And then it got sunny, with rainbows, so there's that.]

Our power went out, unsurprisingly.  And it didn't come back on until 4:00 AM this morning, 36 hours later.

This doesn't sound so terrible.  Power outages are usually whatever.  But fourteen people are staying in this house (young, middle, and old), and the bathrooms are constructed such that they are useless when the power is out.  Fourteen people, no bathrooms, no light, no city, pitch black after 8:30 PM.  Ho hum.

So we couldn't shower or use the toilets.  Last night the owner of this rental procured us a generator, meaning our bathrooms were back in operation (!!), but thazzit.  Luckily the power did come back overnight (I woke up when it came back, because suddenly every room was blindingly illuminated), but I had plans to go for a run this morning and then...well...the lake is kiiiiiindof a bath...