This seems very appropriate to repost during this stormy season.  A few friends have already lost power here and the second storm in two days is coming in now.

We were without power for 4 hours this evening. what had been a household filled with activity and brightly shining Christmas lights instantly became a cavernous adventure zone with everyone groping for flashlights, candles and matches. all our artfully placed Christmas candles became beacons, softly glowing throughout the house. Candles lit, everyone gravitated to the sitting room to be together in the shadowy light. bob read, I slept, the kids played games. Nice.

When the house began to cool, Bob and the kids made a fire in the wood stove downstairs and a while after that, we cooked a dinner of eggs, bacon and toast using the flat top of the stove as a cooker. Beautiful. The kids said it was the best toast they’d ever eaten.

We could hear the big electric company trucks outside as the men did their work on the local transformer. Around 9:30 our electric palm tree lit up on the wall, (oh yeh, those people I live with love that tacky thing), and we were once again surrounded by familiar artificial lighting.

I’m not sorry the electricity came back on but it was nice to be together in the dark.

John P – Nice. I have great memories of similar times. Electric palm tree, eh? My respect for you guys continues to grow.