Lights Out!

This week’s topic is “Stories from a Power Outage.” This is actually something I don’t have much experience with. I sort of remember losing power once in a while when I was young, and once or twice after I had kids. But apparently, going without electricity for an extended period of time is not a common occurrence around here. We rarely lose power even during severe storms.

I can remember only one occasion when the lights went out for more than an hour or two. My daughters were about eight and eleven years old. When they first went out it was late afternoon, so we didn’t worry much. I did make sure I knew where the flashlights were and I always have a few candles set out on the fireplace mantle. My husband, who worked an early morning shift at the factory, went to bed early, setting our battery-operated alarm clock before he went to sleep.

A few hours later, the skies darkened and the power still hadn’t come on. I lit a few candles and the girls and I settled in the family room. We shone a flashlight against a wall and made shadow puppets, and when that got old we decided to play charades. We snacked on chips and lukewarm lemonade and talked about school, hobbies, and boys until we got tired enough to go to bed. The girls weren’t comfortable going to their totally dark bedrooms, so we opened up the sleeper couch in the family room and the three of us bunked together. In the dark, we told stories and sang songs until one by one, we drifted off to sleep.

In the next few years, my daughters would grow into young women and would leave home. I would retire and find new ways to keep busy. But for one dark stormy night, the three of us enjoyed some “girl time” when the lack of outside distractions kept us focused on each other. I still smile when I think about that night.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning the power went back on. The television turned on, the microwave beeped, and the dishwasher, which had turned off mid-cycle, went back to work. My husband woke and found us cuddled together and covered us with a light blanket. He turned off the television and re-set the clocks, and went to work.

Do you have any power outage stories?

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