Tony went to find a flashlight. I used the flashlight app on my cell phone to find candles and matches, then set up an arrangement of votive candles on the kitchen island. Illumination taken care of, I went to Google the electric company's phone number to report the outage, forgetting that my home Wi-Fi network wouldn't work without electricity. Forced to go old school, I pulled out the phone book we haven't used for years. Fortunately, the outage report number hadn't changed. Tony made the call and reported back that more than a thousand other residences in the area were also out. The predicted time for repair was about midnight.
We opened up some windows downstairs and upstairs in the bedroom, then turned off the air conditioner so it wouldn't come on with the windows open and cool the entire backyard. All of our moving around got the cats excited; they figured it was time for their before-bed meal. Indeed, it was close enough to time, and with nothing else to do we figured 'why not'. I took a couple of votive candles with me up to the master bathroom, where Pepper's food station is. (I may or may not have tried to turn on the bathroom light on my way into the room.) I took a quick shower by candlelight and got ready for bed.
Thankfully, even without the ceiling fan it was surprisingly comfortable in the bedroom. As I fell asleep I was treated to the sounds of crickets and a fireworks display that had been rained out last weekend.
The electricity came on about midnight as promised. When the cats demanded their way-too-early-for-me breakfast, Tony took care of them, then turned on the ceiling fan to circulate the air. We got an automated phone call at 7AM from the electric company, wanting to know if everything was working.
It's amazing how dependent we are on electricity, even for a few hours. Glad the outage wasn't too long.
ReplyDeleteSo true!
DeleteWe had a generator. In the time I lived there, it came on twice. I hated the noise, and had to sleep in another room. Life before the generator was just fine when the power went out.
ReplyDeleteThere's a backup power source for the basement electronics that kept beeping to let us know it was on the job. Thankfully it can't be heard from the second floor.
DeleteIsn't it funny how we reflexively turn on the light switch even though we know the power is out? Being off the grid, even temporarily, reminds us of just how dependent we are on modern conveniences.
ReplyDeleteReflexes and instincts are funny things. We are SO dependent on technology and convenience.
DeleteI like it when the electricity goes, temporarily. Things slow down and are simplified. Then when it comes back on, I'm grateful.
ReplyDeleteBest part for me would be listening to the crickets.
I agree that both are good, and thankful we didn't have our typical humid weather. I LOVE opening windows when the weather is conducive to it.
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