Coming out of the Dark

Earlier this week we were without electricity for 24 hours. Thankfully it was a beautiful spring day, and nothing in the fridge or freezer spoiled...or else this post may have had a very different tone.

I loved being without power! It forced me to think creatively and solve problems that (any other day) could have easily been solved by flipping a switch or pointing a remote.

Once I realized that the power was out and (according to the power company) probably wasn't coming on anytime soon, I broke the news to the kids. At first they were disappointed (no TV) and scared (no nightlights) but I soon distracted them with an activity. We sat around the kitchen table and painted rocks. I had come across a rock painting kit and I broke it out and we got to work. We painted footballs, cats, flowers and daddy! After that we all pitched in to clean the house and then we played outside. Once Alex came home we went out for dinner and then went to a park to run around before bed. I gave them a bath by candle light (which Jack loved!) and then it was bedtime. This was the hardest time of the day...the girls really hate being in total darkness. But after stories by candle light and lots of singing they fell asleep. They even slept through a quite powerful thunderstorm, that Alex and I enjoyed very much.

Once everyone was asleep, Alex and I sat talking in the darkened living room and somehow stumbled onto the topic of sitcom theme songs. We laughed and laughed listening to one another sing the themes from "WKRP in Cincinnati", "Family Ties", "The Jeffersons", "The Facts of Life", "Happy Days" and many more. We headed up to bed and as we lay there we continued on the TV theme by recalling our favorite shows from different decades. I drifted off somewhere around the 90's with a smile on my face and a contented heart.

When the power is on it is so easy to overlook one another...to turn to TV or the computer or the phone (and when you have VOIP no power = no phone). But when it was off we re-discovered how much fun we all have together. Running in the park, singing favorite songs, telling funny stories, and recalling childhood memories...all things that happened because we were in the dark.

I'd love to tell you that things haven't changed even thought the lights are back on...but I can't. We appreciate having lights to turn on and fans to cool us on warm nights...and it is all too easy to slip back into old routines. But I think I'm going to to institute a once a month "power outage" in our home. Maybe we'll eat by candle light and sleep outside under the stars next time. I'll be sure to keep you posted.