When the Lights Go Out

photo © 2007 Crystal , Flickr

Moments after I hit the orange publish post button last night, the power went out. I was in a panic about getting my writing posted and gave my sister-in-law a phone call to help me out. I'm so blessed to have her.

Moving around in the dark was a HUGE wake-up call. I moved out to WA from NH at the beginning of the school year without my husband. He was supposed to be finishing up things on the boat and joining us around December. The Navy wouldn't give him orders so we couldn't ship all of our belongings. I took the bare necessities, the kids, two pets, and headed off across country. Little did we know that orders would continue to get pushed and I'd be finishing the school year with no husband and missing my home supplies.

Back to the story...because I have so little in my house, the power outage caught me by surprise. We've had some pretty bad wind storms lately but have lucked out on the power department. Well, last night was my turn.

As I sat typing away, everything went black. I leaned back in my computer chair and processed what I was going to do next. Where are the flashlights? Oh, that's right...I don't have any. How about candles? Yup, I know exactly where they are and where the lighter is.

I rose from my seat, careful not to anger the four legged blanket. Then I shot out my arms and did my best Frankenstein impersonation as I felt my way out of the room and down the stairs. Since I had been just staring at a computer screen, my house was pitch black. There was not a speck of light coming from outside. The moon had decided that this would be the perfect time to play hide and seek. I was failing at finding it.

As soon as my foot hit the kitchen floor, I was bonked into my a large furry creature. Needless to say, the hungry dog knows what bare feet on the kitchen floor sounds like. She jostled me as I rummaged through the drawer in search of the fire wielding wand. I sure wish those nightlights were working.

After the candles were lit, my other senses were activated. My house alarm was persistently beeping. Then the fire detectors decided to chime in...of course they didn't want to interfere with the alarm so they alternated. Taking turns with their ear shattering beeps.

I debated on bringing the kids downstairs to huddle by the fireplace, but decided that I'd venture upstairs with the candles to tuck them in a little tighter before retiring myself. Blankets were layered like a princess was coming to join us. The boys didn't bat an eye as I moved them to snug the blankets under their sides.

I have no idea what people did without electricity. I am very appreciative to have it....and can't wait for my generator to make the trip across country to keep me warm on these powerless nights.