Dash #498 Power Outages

            Share an experience that you have had with when the power went out

            For the most part power outages provide positive memories for me.  I know that might sound strange, but except for one time that I can recall, the experiences have been great.  I don’t even remember all of the details about the unpleasant power outage.  In my mind, it took place during the course of several hours, but in reality, it may have only been minutes.  I would guess that I was seven. 

            Mike’s parents were out of town, and my parents had agreed to watch him – I'm guessing for the weekend.  Mike and I were the same age and my brother Patrick was two years younger.  Mom said that she and dad had gone over to a neighbor’s house for an activity.  I don’t know if they were on a different powerline or if their power had gone out and mom and dad had returned.  Or if we were in bed when they returned.  I only remember the devastation.

            We had been left with a baby sitter.  I think we had already gone to bed when the thunderstorm started.  I think it must have woken us up as it was very loud.  We didn’t have power.  I remember following the sitter around as she had the source of light – I don’t know if she used a flashlight or candle.  Patrick cried the entire time.  Mike was very brave and I tried to be brave too that I might impress him – but the thunder was really loud and I did cry – but not as loud or as long as Patrick.  That is my most horrible memory.

            When the power went out every other time I can remember, mom and dad were home.  Dad would light candles or the lantern that we had for camping.  We would play games around the table.  Power outages meant spending time with family and feeling safe.

            One time when I was in high school I had gone to an early morning devotional.  The scheduled speaker was George Durrant.  I don’t recall if the power had gone out before he was introduced or if just after he approached the stand but I do think it went out before he started speaking.  I remember two specific things he said in reference to the power having gone out.  One was it was a shame because nobody would be able to see how handsome he was.  He also made a joke about needing some Israel-Lights.

            At school, many kids roamed the halls waiting for the announcement to let us go as there was no power.  I suppose the classrooms that had windows could have had discussions in the dark, but none of the inside classrooms had windows.  In fact, there was carpet on all of the walls.  Whose brilliant idea was that?

School was finally dismissed after a couple of hours. The power was restored just as soon as they said it.  Man, you should have seen how quickly the parking lot cleared.  Great day.  I think it was Valentine’s Day. Power outages meant missing school.

The power went off quite often when we were living in Kearns.  Most of the time it was annoying but nothing devastating.  The longest it had ever gone out was the Christmas when Jenna was four.  Now that was an awesome Christmas.  No electronics.  Jenna enjoyed shining the flashlight. 

Our power had returned a few hours before Bill’s and Kayla’s did.  They lived two or three streets over and we had invited them to come and stay the night so that they could keep warm.  They were packing up their belongings to head over when their power returned.  Sadly there were some living in Kearns who were without power for up to three weeks.  Power outages meant family support.

We held Church in the dark one week.  Just one meeting.  We met in the cultural hall as it provided the most source of light.  We all kept our coats on as it was cold.  I think there was only just one speaker. Power Outages provide concern.

We played games with our neighbor from across the street the first December we were living in Oregon.  We had a gas stove but she had only electricity to keep her warm. Roland had also gone out to get a generator which we shared with the neighbor’s next door.  We both used the power from the generator to keep our food cold in our fridges.  And Roland has used the generator to power up his computer for work. Power outages lead to new resources and inventions.

I started some assignments with the generator this week.  Roland got his computer running but was unable to retrieve the information he needed for work.  He made meals for us on a propane stove he had set up out back.   He boiled water and I did dishes. It was like camping.   We also played a lot of games.  Power outages lead to opportunities.  

Roland took great care of us.  He suffered the most as Jenna and I do better with cold weather than he does.  He was focused on us instead of the TV.  Jenna and I enjoyed his presence.

After four days and the fourth promise of power (as it had already turned on but back off again three times before), we were finally up and running.  Roland unhooked all the chords from the generator.  I helped him wind the chords and put them away.  He was very tired and certainly deserved the rest.  As soon as the TV went on Jenna said she wished the power would go out again.