Cats iz analog: 18 fun things you can do without electricity

I'm currently living in my Wholehearted House without a power system. I still have some battery-powered devices and an off-site, fully-wired office, so I haven't exactly broken up with electricity. One of my jobs is quite high-tech, I love social media and the ability to phone, Skype or Facetime with people who are far away. And I don't think any of that is going to change.

I thought about getting a big solar power generation system set up for my Tiny Home with an inverter and everything so I could use the trailer's existing AC system. But, I think I'm now leaning towards simply reducing my electricity consumption to what I can derive from a small solar panel, which I will hook up to one 12-volt battery (which I can also arrange with friends to periodically recharge on the grid, if the sun continues its cruel abandonment of Nova Scotia). The battery will charge the trailer's existing DC electrical system and hopefully provide enough power for a cellphone signal amplifier and occasional charges for my phone and for a rechargeable lantern.

So far, I've been quite surprised about the extent to which I'm not missing having power. I have a wood stove for heat, a propane stove for cooking and a propane fridge - though frankly at this time of year I don't even have the fridge turned on. I should stick a thermometer in there to see how cold it is, but the fact that the little bit of low-risk food I have in there is maintaining its quality is reassurance enough for now. I have a battery-powered head lamp for manoeuvring when I wake up in the pre-dawn darkness. My water is carried by hand, not pumped. My house is up off the ground, so I don't need a sump pump. I don't have running hot water, so no hot water heater is required.

It's amazing how, with some shared infrastructure, I should be able to access everything I need without having to OWN very much.

And I'm re-discovering that there are very pleasant things to do without electricity. Here are a few:

The might hunter stalks The Red Dot.

1. Play with the cat (Salinger is a frisky under 1-year-old who can spend literally hours being entertained with The Red Dot (laser pointer) or the stick with the pompom on an elastic string)
2. Enjoy the wonders of a MacBook Pro's long-lasting battery for writing blog posts, letters, stories, etc, (without interruptions from the Internet)
3. Play guitar
4. Sing
5. Continually monitor and frequently tend the fire in the wood stove
6. Do yoga
7. Play solitaire, you know, with a deck of cards
8. Do jigsaw puzzles
9. Cuddle, pet, brush and generally fuss over the cat
10. Stare at the fire and think
11. Make love (I'm flying solo these days, but you don't have to)
12. Nap
13. Read
14. Have visits with friends, possibly involving a game of cards, Scrabble or backgammon – or a discussion that is not resolved by recourse to Wikipedia
15. Make lists
16. Make things (i.e.: crochet, knit, sew by hand, hook rugs)
17. Look for the cat (I have been stunned to find that Salinger can successfully hide in 232 square feet! He has foxed me at least twice already, squeezing in to spaces I never dreamed he could fit into.)
18. Sleep

If all of these things sound incredibly relaxing that's because they are. I've always loved Earth Hour and now there are a whole lot more of them in my life.

Do you ever deliberately take a break from electricity? What do you do when the power goes out? What powered activities are stressing you out? What powered activities do you think you could or couldn't give up? I'm curious to know, so please comment below.