In the Dark.

”It was a dark and stormy night.” How many novels has that great canine visionary Snoopy started with that very line? As I sat down around 11 last night after watching Nightwatch, not to be confused with the stunning Russian gothic tale Night Watch which I watched last week, I began typing today's post. Outside, raccoons were being abnormally vocal, but I assumed they were just partying like Rey's bugs. Live and let do. I continued writing as the noise died down and the wind picked up. Behind me, the curtain over my bed blew in and fell back. Before me, the door to my room opened and closed with each gust of wind. Suddenly, there was the loudest crack of lighting I'd ever heard. The house shook, and I was certain one of the trees in the woods behind it had been struck.

I headed out to the rest of the house to shut stray windows as pouring rain ensued. My ears still ringing, I noticed my cat was pretty relaxed on the kitchen table. Animals are often a good guage of the level of danger. Outside I couldn't see any individual bolts of lightning. Rather, the entire sky would turn a bright shade of white moments before the next loud crash. There wasn't even time to count a single “Mississippi” so the strikes were less than a mile away. The lights went out for a second and came back on. My cat was nowhere to be seen. I ran back to my room, and my computer was off. So much for the first few lines I'd typed. Hopefully, I had saved my progress. I started the machine up again and walked back to the front of the house. Again the lights went off and on. I returned, started my machine again, only to have the power go off a third time. The lights flickered back on for a second before dying completely. It was pitch black in the house.

I wondered how long the storm would last. The entire house would light up every few seconds from the lightning, allowing me to find my way around. I thought about checking the hourly forecast on Weather.com, then realized that was impossible. I couldn't write, so I thought about playing a video game or watching television to pass the time. When I realized that wouldn't work either, I reluctantly went to bed before midnight, occasionally hitting the light on my wristwatch to see what time it was, in the hope that the power would come back in time for me to finish my thoughts. If I heard my fan come back on, I'd know power had been restored. The rain sounded like it subsided, I moved the curtain away from the window over my head and stared up at the flashing sky. I sat up and looked through dark trees for lights from other houses, or the familiar glow from the shopping center a few blocks away. Nothing.

I can't say when the power came back, because I unfortunately fell asleep. The bottle of water I'd put in the freezer prior to the failure is frozen solid this morning, and none of the food seems to have spoiled. Knowing my luck, ten minutes after I drifted off I could have resumed my work. Now that I'm no longer disconnected however, I only have time for this quick update before rushing to the office for an early meeting and reality. Weather permitting, tomorrow will feature the thoughts I originally planned to share today. A world without electricity is not a world for me.