jaeleslie

The new car is a couple years old now, not so new, but it has one of those cool keychain dealies that lets you pop the trunk from across the parking lot. If you can remember which button it is. It's the blue one with the silhouette of the car with the trunk open, that's easy. I always have to stare at the other ones a while before the meanings of the icons register. There's nothing looking like a padlock on the car, but oh yeah, that's a lock, so this other must be unlock. Old brain, not catching on to new stuff so well.

I just found myself standing at the back door with my arms full of groceries, looking at my keychain for the remote that would pop the back door open. But it's not that new, it's the same old key. Probly a good thing, in case the power goes off, or if there was a fire, or whatever. The old garage door opened on that same key, but it was so heavy and creaky I didn't like to open and close it, so it stood open in all weather until we got the new one.

The garage door has a remote control on the opener, and a keypad, and if the electricity goes off there's a key, which we just found last weekend, and I received instruction on how to use the key to get the garage door open mechanically by unlocking and pulling on the cable (and I'll need a stepladder to reach it). In case the power should go off, and I should need to use the car. This does not seem so far-fetched as it used to.

I've been saying "when the power goes out" for years now, because I am such a crank. Lately, maybe I'm not. I have keyboards, and musical instruments, and lots of reading and writing materials on hand that will work even when the power goes out. And I have candles so we can find them in the dark. So at least art can go on here, while civilization crumbles.