Ode to Electricity
(subtitle Living like it's 999)

Candlelight is great for a romantic dinner, but to have to rely on it really bites. So Wednesday we were one of 500K victims of loss of electricity due to Category 1 or 2 winds through our fine city. At 6:30 we ordered pizza. At a little after seven, the power went out. The skies were dark and the winds were outrageous. Our neighbors' siding was flopping around. We made the mad dash to save kids' toys and any plastic furniture from flying away. The sky was still light enough to find flashlights and candles. We jerry rigged a AA battery with five C batteries to make our only battery operated radio work. At quarter after seven our pizza arrived. We had a lovely dinner by candlelight. We played a game of Candy Land by the fading light of day and candles. The kids went to bed at the normal time. My little man went right to sleep and Lady Jane, who we put in with her brother, decided she was not prepared for bed yet. It was too dark and too quiet. She ended up sleeping with us. Taking out contacts by candlelight was just about as interesting as putting in contacts by candlelight. Why are there no windows in any of my 2.5 baths.

Next morning the lights were still out. We called daycare, they had light. We called work, they had light. So we left our house and went to work. Note as many of you know we were also in a heat wave. Without air conditioning, the house becomes a broiler. Without electricity, you can't run a fan even to cool it off. Our electric company was estimating 3-5 days before electricity would be restored. I decided at 4 o'clock to leave work in search of supplies. I was about 7 hours behind the rest of the area. First stop camping supply store. Here I thought I was being smart after all if I wanted a battery powered fan, it would probably be in a camping store. Unfortunately, I'm not the only smart person. The store clerk, who was very nice, told me they sold out in 2 minutes that morning. She then showed me the table by the front door they had set up with various flashlights and other lights. I picked up a heavy duty flashlight and a candle burning lantern. She said they were out of D batteries for the flashlight, I figured I'd be able to find some somewhere else. I figured wrong.

Walgreens? No D batteries. Radio Shack? No D batteries. Target? No D batteries. Bed Bath and Beyond? 1 overlooked package of 4 D batteries. I walked around the store like I'd found gold holding tightly to my discovery. As I wandered around from store to store, I kept expecting some less than favorable character to step around the corner and offer me some D batteries for a price. Meanwhile, that morning my sister in law went to a generator-run Home Depot and found tons of flashlights and plenty of batteries. After taking my precious commodity home, I threw out everything in my fridge and freezer.

The heat was just too much in the house that night so we all packed up and went to our friend's house up the street. Refugees that we were we commandered their basement and spread out. The next day everyone went to work but me and the kids (Friday's are days off). We went back to the house and opened every window. We took quick candlelit showers. While the kids played in the living room, I worked on doing the dishes that never made it into the dishwasher. I cleaned the freezer next, by then I was too exhausted to clean the fridge and it was time to go to the chiropractor and Little Gym. The day was cooling off, I shut every window on the first floor and left the windows on the second floor open. The kids and I made a dash into the office building for my appointment just missing getting dumped on by more rain. We weren't as luck on the way out. We got soaked in the time it took from the door to the car. The worst of it was the rain was freezing cold. We actually turned on the heater in the car on the way to Little Gym.

My husband's work let out because they lost power due to the second storm. We went to Denny's for lunch and was told that it would be a 10-15 minute wait for a table and at least 30 minutes for food. Okay, second option. We ate lunch at Kreiger's and headed to the grocery store to pick up dinner for our hosts. The kids and I made chocolate chip cookies. Still no power at the house and it looked like the skies could open at any moment. We decided to spend another night in our friends' air conditioning.

Saturday morning was cool at about 70 degrees. I came down to get clothes for the kids and opened all the windows. The house was at 84 degrees when I came in and 78 degrees when I left shortly after. After a massive brunch for the 8 refugees, we came back home. I immediately went to the kitchen to start putting away the dishes I'd hand washed the day before. When I looked over at the phone, I noticed the answering machine blinking. It took me a second to realize what I was seeing. I turned and saw that the kitchen light was on and the microwave had the standard 88:88. We had electicity!!!! I immediately yelled out the door to my husband that we had electricity. I called our friends' house and told them. We went up and gathered our stuff. My kids sang the chant "We have e-lec-tricity, We have e-lec-tricity". My husband and I marveled at the fact that we once again had a powered garage door.

I'm just thankful that we have a gas powered hot water heater. One of the mothers at Little Gym was bathing in cold water. It's also great to have friends who will put up with you and your whole family for a few days and not complain about it. It was quite the adventure.