“Electricity is the power
turn it on, it gives you light
But you have to know
how to use it: treat it right!”
Such is the ear worm of a teaching song that appeared on ‘3-2-1 Contact’ or some other PBS educational show in the 80’s, and it’s stuck in my head ever since. It came up and reared its head when our power went out for a whole night thanks to a recent storm. Our electricity went out at 4 PM, and was originally scheduled to be back by 9 PM – of course that didn’t happen, so I went through the house finding all the candles, because it’s remarkably darker than you think it will be when you’ve been accustomed to electric light for 45 years.
A stunning pair of scarlet beeswax honeycomb candles – a gift from our friend Anu – made for perfect light, especially when paired with a mirror to double their illumination. As for the rest of the night, it was passed in relative quiet and darkness, with our phones making the most of the Vice Presidential debate, each switching out at various points, at which time we would change to the other one, forming a patchwork that largely allowed us to hear most of what was going on. Just another typical night in 2020.
Sleeping proved remarkably more difficult in complete and total darkness. Not because of fear or anything, but for the simple unaccustomed totality of the darkness. Maybe I’m not quite ready to return to that level of basics. Luckily for us, the power kicked on early the next morning, which was not the case with several people I know, who went without for two more days. They’re the real profiles in courage. We didn’t even lose the ice cream (but just in case I went in the next day and ate it all – preventative measures, you know).
