With the lights out

Power outage for 24 hours that had me thinking of dystopian fiction. What if we lived in a land of constant shortage? How would I provide for my unborn children? We're incredibly reliant on electricity. I counted myself accomplished just to make coffee this morning by the elementary step of pouring boiling water over grounds in a filter. This can't mean anything but that I'm coddled. Resolved: to find ways to decrease my reliance on cars and electricity, even in this suburban Maryland environment. I might have to become a pedestrian activist, or an activist pedestrian, or both.