The past week has been tough for many folks in the area. We endured hours of snowstorms, and then the power was out, for as long as 72 hours for some.

As for me, I lost electricity at 3 p.m. Thursday and it wasn’t restored until 8 p.m. Friday.

It’s amazing how creative you must become to cope with this situation. First off, thankfully, we have a woodstove in the basement with plenty of dry wood, so our house never went below 65 degrees. I also have a gas range, so I was able to light it with a match to heat food and make the all-important pot of coffee.

I’ve always had transistor ra...