In the dark

Even before the lights went out, I was in the dark. It has felt like that for months. I was home 52 minutes on Friday night when the lights flickered and the air conditioner powered down. It was an overloaded transformer that burst into flames, dropped a live wire onto two cars as they exploded like a scene from an old Starsky and Hutch episode. The tempreture had been in the high 90’s all week and it was probably the worst time to lose power.

I took electricity for granted. Lights, charging the electronics, cooking, hair dryer, television, air conditioner. Luckily, the hot water heater was gas powered so at least we could take showers. The estimated time of recovery was 3:30 pm on Saturday then 11:30 pm then “Indefinite.” That was a hard pill to swallow but also a sort of freedom that there was really not a damn thing you could do about it. My landlord had a gas generator and he attached an extension cord to both of the apartments he rents in his house. I appreciated the light to read by and another for a fan but luckily it had cooled down to a reasonable temperature. I probably read more in the 4 days without power than I have in the past year.

Really the worst part of the power outage was having to eat out for most meals and keeping the canned cat food in a cooler with ice. Canned cat food never smells good on a good day but leave it in a cooler and yuck. The cat seemed okay with it. At least, she didn’t have to eat out.

Without electricity, no street lights or televisions or radios, it was quiet and oh so, peaceful. Well, except for the constant noise of the generator. I couldn’t iron or watch the horrible news or an inane television show. I dreamed about cool breezes and humming refrigerators filled with left overs and icy coca colas. It wasn’t a bad way to spend 4 days in the dark. And now that the lights are back on, I’m still in the dark, fumbling around, searching for the light switch.