The light to which I've become accustomed.

“We believe that electricity exists, because the electric company keeps sending us bills for it, but we cannot figure out how it travels inside wires.”

~Dave Berry

Last night our electricity went out, apparently due to a vehicle accident. I was in the middle of watching Law & Order, and was slightly disappointed that I wasn't going to see the end of the show. Luckily, it was still light enough to go around the house gathering flashlights and candles. When I'd called to check on the status of the outage, they initially said they were working to have everything back on by 10pm. It was 630pm when it had shut off. So 10pm comes and goes, and still no lights. So I called again. 1030pm, was the new estimated time. 1030pm came and went. Called again. This time there is no estimated time of restoration. Oh well.

Let me remind you what having no electricity really means. No internet. No water dispensed from your fridge. No fridge-gotta be careful to keep it closed because who knows when the electricity will be up and running again. No toaster. (I wanted a piece of toast.) Computer batteries only last so long without being recharged. Oh, and that goes for cell phones too. No TV. No DVDs. No automatic garage door opening. But worst of all: NO A/C.

Funny, but all of that meant that people were outside on their porches and in the backyard playing catch, chasing their dogs, reading, and relaxing. Our lives would be so much different if we lived without electricity...

So we went to bed finally. According to our clocks (the ones that plug in), our power was restored shortly before 4am. That must have been some accident!

Then today at about 430pm, the lights went out again! Seriously?? At least this time it was only for about nine minutes instead of nine hours!

But it all got me thinking about what to do when the power goes out. Be prepared. Know where your flashlights are. Know where the extra batteries are. I had to change the batteries in one flashlight when it died after about an hour of use. And read up here to be even more prepared.

Photo found here.