Can You Hear the Quiet?

At 9:00 this morning the electric power shut off. The two living room fans stopped, the little freezer stopped, the refrigerator stopped. Everything electric in the neighborhood stopped.

And it was quiet! We all go through life with noise, especially in a city, but even in an RV park in the desert. When that noise suddenly stops, it’s almost eerie, the sound of silence. Simon and Garfunkle wrote and sang about “The Sound of Silence.”

We knew it was going to happen today; our park management had notified us that Sulphur Springs Valley Cooperative, our local power company, was going to be replacing some aging transformers in the park. They even told us our section, the “new section,” would be first. They also assured us the power would not be off for more than an hour.

I had already started preparing breakfast (we eat a late breakfast most mornings): it was to be a wonderful baked apple concoction to be cooked in the microwave. No more microwave. Turns out stove-top baked apples are pretty good!

We hurried over and turned off the portable freezer, turned off the laptop, turned off the portable fan. We turned on a couple of light fixtures so we’d be able to see as well as hear the power come back on. It only took 20 minutes and we were back “in force.”

The baked apples? Delicious as always, even if I do say so myself. Here’s the recipe:

Scrub and wedge two Granny Smith apples; cut the core portions from each wedge, cut the wedges into bite-size pieces.

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Drop them into a microwave safe bowl.

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Add a handful of raisins (or dried fruit of nearly any kind, diced into small bits - fresh or frozen blueberries are a real treat!).

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Add a handful of old fashioned oats, a handful of Grape-Nuts cereal, and a generous sprinkling of ground flaxseed.

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Sweeten with brown sugar (I use Brown Splenda Blend to cut down on the sugar; with this blend you use half the quantity as you would of pure brown sugar).

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Sprinkle with a good dollop of cinnamon (for health as well as flavor – cinnamon is good for the body and the soul).

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Pour in enough water to satisfy the dry ingredients and soften the apples when cooked; you’ll have to experiment with the water quantity as well as the handful measurements - my hands are pretty large. Bake on high in the microwave for six minutes.

Of course, I had to use the stove, with the power turned off!

From Baked Apples

We usually accompany this dish with a slice of sharp cheddar. The baked apple also makes a good dessert, chilled and topped with whipped cream or lowfat vanilla yogurt.

After breakfast I went out to find the power company’s work crew. They were there in force, and I got a couple of pictures.

From 2009 August 26

We told you about our monsoon, and promised that the desert would be blooming. The most colorful and dynamic example of the bloom is the Texas Ranger (which we believe is a relative of sage). Rangers grow all over this town, this park, and our own lot. Yesterday all the other Rangers in town were in full bloom; our two simply had buds ready to burst. Early this morning they cranked open with this beautiful pink display, the best we have yet seen on our own Rangers.

From 2009 August 26

The tiny flowers attract lots of bees!

From 2009 August 26

While I was out looking for the power people, I passed this Texas Ranger in a common area of the park. It has the best display I have ever seen on any Ranger plant, a littler deeper color than most, and a much more dense display.

From 2009 August 26

What makes the difference? I firmly believe it has to do with regular and serious pruning. We haven’t pruned our plants except just a little bit. You can bet that, after Christmas, I’ll be out hacking away at our two Rangers. We have to wait until after Christmas because we decorate the bushes.

Now a personal note: last time we asked for specific feedback to the video clip we put in the post. We were happy to hear from a dozen of you that it worked well. Thanks for letting us know. Some of our readers are “lurkers’ who read but don’t reply – ever. That’s OK, I guess, but it is the comments and replies that make it fun for us to write and publish the blog.

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