A few days ago, heavy wind caused the power to go out 6:00 am. No biggie, right? But our house is like Motel 6, where they leave the light on for you. An illuminated clock face, a nightlight in the bathroom, a soft table lamp in the living room. It felt eerie to close my eyes in the total darkness and I didn’t sleep a wink. At 7:00, I got my fidgety self out of bed to phone Ohio Edison and report it. That turned out to be unnecessary as the lights came back on while I was brushing my teeth, but it brought to mind an outage that occurred a few years ago. We were sitting at the dining room table, hubby and I, playing Scrabble, I think, when the house went dark. I waited to see if the power would come back on quickly, as it usually does. Hubby, however, grew antsy. Ninety seconds in, he said, “Are you going to sit there all day? Or help me find an extension cord and get the generator going?” Before we could locate a working flashlight and the key to the generator, power was restored. If you wait patiently, many problems solve themselves. Like this BOB AND WHEEL poem, which practically wrote itself once I figured out the subject. If you would like to participate in my buddy Muri’s NPM Challenge and want the details, click HERE.
POWER OUTAGE
No power!
Lake wind in its sharpness
has downed pole or tower.
We squirm in full darkness,
the minutes like hours.
CALLING IT IN
I dial,
hold for operator.
Eager husband, meanwhile,
fires up generator.
Waiting isn’t his style.
JUST JOAN 42 
That’s the thing with power outages–you never know when the juice will be back on. And as far as lights are concerned, it seems these days, with long-lasting LED flashlights, who needs candles or oil lamps anymore?
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True, but I like to allow the power company five minutes to sort it out before I jump in. Totally agree about the flashlights. I have a drawer full of candles, but they are my last resort. Our cat is very curious about flames, and two previous cats have set their tails on fire–one during a storm, the other during a candlelight dinner.
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Those poor cats. And what a way to spoil the romance of a candlelight dinner.
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Brava Joan! You are in fine form and both of these are a delight to read!!We don’t have a generator but I do have lots of candles (not those scented silly ones but candelabras with big honking tapers) that burn for hours! As the safety and compliance person for years, I have snap glow sticks in strategic spots… I hope they are a never used resource.
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Thanks, Muri. I have a drawerful of scented three-wickers, a Bath and Body annex almost. But I try not to use them. (See above comment to Tippy.) As safety and compliance person, I’m sure you get it.
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I snicker at your vision of hubby’s impatience. My first thought was that he really wanted to fire up his “toy” to prove he was right to buy it.
Long ago, we had our power shut off. We still had water, and gas services (thank God) so we were able to shower and even cook. The power company didn’t just want the bill paid, but a hefty security deposit before they’d restore power. So our family had to go 6 weeks before we had the money to pay for electric services to be restored (and still pay the rent).
So, living without power is a memory my sons both have and brag about now that they are grown. I was ashamed; but they are proud of how we managed with lanterns and using the freezer as a cooler.
You brought back some strong and blessed memories with both of your poems :).
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Of course, men love their toys and are eager to prove their worth. We did have an outage once that lasted ten hours. The generator couldn’t power as many things as we thought, and there was some disagreement over what was “essential” (fridge, freezer, fan and lights vs TV and computer). I sympathize with your plight. Living without power for weeks would be a trial, but trials do provide valuable lessons in making do. We lived without any appliances for our first two weeks in the new house. I was counting on next-day delivery and Home Depot couldn’t make it happen. We had a chest freezer we brought with us and a cooler. I plugged in my electric kettle to make French press coffee. We cooked in our crockpot, and outside in the grill and propane wok. Laundry piled up, even with us wearing the same clothes for 2 or 3 days. When the delivery truck came, it was cause for celebration.
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Well, aren’t you grateful your toothbrush is battery operated!?
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Actually, it’s a manual model. And I can use it in the dark if necessary.
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I’m with eager husband on this one. Only, I’ve got nothing more modern than candles.
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Take a breath, Snoozin! Nine times out of ten, the lights come back on before you can find a candle and a match. And you’ll probably stub your toe wandering around in the dark… why take unnecessary chances?
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This is great 😉 Also, aren’t husbands wonderful lol
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Thanks, KE. I’m doing a poetry month challenge and resumed posting on 3 April. If the muses cooperate, I will have posted 13 poems by the end of the month. Stay tuned.
As for husbands, mine likes his toys. Sometimes it’s a blessing, sometimes it’s a nuisance.
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