Last night the power went out. It was very unexpected. No wind. No thunder or lightning. No crashing limbs.
Jack was in bed. Robby and I were on the couch with our MadMen mini-marathon (I’m trying to catch him up so that I have someone who will understand my obsession with it). We were a third of the way into the Nixon/Kennedy episode when the television popped and went dark. It came back for a brief moment then went dark again.
The house was suddenly silent. No ceiling fans. None of the white noise. Just silence. I went in search of candles and flashlights– we were in that gloamy twilight and the light was fading fast. Robby went outside to confirm what I already knew– the whole street was out.
We haven’t exactly figured out how the electric grid works in our town– across the street the house on the corner had power but my mother, four blocks away, didn’t either. She answered the phone (still having one plugged in that wasn’t entirely dependent on electricity) and announced that they were giving up and going to bed.
We waited. Sat in the living room with the pups and admired the candlelight. Outside there was an occasional snatch of conversation from people who were walking. Lots of people were out– and there was a festiveness in their numbers. Unable to do anything became a reason to celebrate. We contemplated waking up Jack and taking him for a walk around the neighborhood.
After a while we opened up the bottle of wine that Chris and Susan gave us and sat on the back deck with the tiki torches and a sleeve of Ritz crackers. The quiet was nice. The stillness. The nothingness. No computers or phones television. I tried to read my library book but was too distracted by thinking that I should appreciate the stillness.
It didn’t last– I got restless and went back inside. From the open windows the mood changed– people who had been gay and laughing in the first hour were now edgy and vexed as the darkness deepened. The house began to feel stuffy without any of the ceiling fans to move the air. A family on the edge of our block were too loud– we could hear a woman cursing over and over even while there were sounds of small children from the same yard. Far away– maybe a half mile? or mile? there was a gun fired. The night felt sinister.
We fell asleep on the couch because it was cooler downstairs but I woke after a while with a stiff neck and crawled upstairs. It was hot and still and I couldn’t bear the sheet on top of me. A utility truck passed and then another. A hum and then the electricity was back– resounding cheers went up from the loud family. And then an “Aw shoo!” when it went back off again almost instantly.
Today it’s back again. The clocks are all wonky and I missed Deadliest Catch because the TiVo was out. Might have to have a brown out some time again though– the wine and the book and the quiet were nice.