Peter Lacerenza
Features Editor
A little over a week ago, the usually quiet town of New Canaan was transformed into chaotic, tree-strewn confusion when a Nor’easter hit town and the surrounding area. Power lines were downed by wind gusts and falling trees, and streets became labyrinths, ending in blocked roads. Homes and students alike were left powerless for days. For the first time in a while, students experienced a blackout that bore no connection to an Outback dance, or a sports dress code spearheaded by Bussey’s Bomb Squad. This was the real thing.
As a result, many students had to take up a sort of a nomadic existence, bouncing from place to place to access Internet, electricity, and a shower. Although many students sought these bare essentials to “survive” the aftermath of the storm, they often sought some entertainment during the unexpected five-day weekend.
“I hung out with my friends for most of the time, which was different because I was out of the house pretty much and didn’t go home for the whole week,” senior Hillary Ashley said. “For the most part, my friends and I talked to pass the time, which was interesting and relaxing.”
“We don’t have a generator, so my sister and I had to shower at a friend’s house and friends invited us over to eat, and we also went out to dinner a lot,” junior Christina Marder said. “I went to the library once or twice to check my emails and do some work.”
Although the idea of living without power for a few days may seem easy enough, many students found it difficult.
“Living without electricity was actually pretty hard,” Christina said. “You never really know what you take for granted until you lose it, like running water, not having to remember to not open the refrigerator, and heat.”
Despite having to live without modern necessities or conveniences for a few days, some students embraced the power outages.“From the power outage, I learned that technology is really just for comfort, but it’s cool how we can still get by pretty easily without it,” senior Mike Kucharczyk said.
“ I actually enjoyed not having power. It was really nice actually doing stuff rather than wasting time on the Internet,” Hillary said. “I really wanted another day off, unlike my friends who were dying of boredom.”
However, there were those who remained unscathed by the storm, and were lucky enough to have power. As a result, the three days off became a mini break amongst the seemingly endless slew of breaks, vacations, and CAPT week students have had since February.
“I didn’t realize how big of a deal the whole storm really was until I talked to other people who didn’t have power. It just turned out being a break for me,” junior Blaire Haney said. “I was never really affected by the power outage, but it was nice to be able to let my friends come over to shower and spend time together.”
But as the storm clouds moved on, trees were cleared and power grids re-lit, powerless students returned to routine and scheduled lifestyles. However, over the span of school cancellations, many students found a new appreciation for the things that some take for granted.
“For me, I was able to appreciate the outdoors more because I had to be away from home the whole day and it just made me feel great,” Mike said.
“It made me appreciate how lucky we are to have the structure and stability of our society when there are areas of the world like Haiti that are so distraught from natural disasters,” sophomore Dylan Kavookjian said.
