black-out weekend
Friday evening there was a storm.
It was a hot evening, our family had decided to go fend off the heat at the movie theater. My brother Zachary called to be picked up. He had a been a camp councilor for the week and need retrieving.
My mother and I quickly left to go get him. Just as we made our way the rain started to pour and wind began to howl. I managed to maneuver the half dozen miles cross country. Branches were quickly hitting the pavement and I had to dodge them. I dismissed my mother's urges to pull over and wait for the rain to pass. It was cat and dogs by the time we made it to Zachary.
With him in the car we headed west. The sky was green. I have always heard that when the weather is turning bad the sky is green and I had never witnessed the exact hue until that moment. It made my stomach churn.
We made it home in time to run into the house as the winds began to howl. We found the portable battery operated radio as the lights flickered over head. Then the power was out and we saw the sparks fly. The wind had blown a branch off of the tree nearest our house and it had landed on the power line, tearing it from the main line.
The storm continued to wail as mother called the power company to let them know what had happened and soon the town maintenance and fire teams were checking the wire for live electricity.
Though that storm passed for the moment trees were down everywhere and 70,000 people in the area were left without power.
As the night continued on, our family sat in the dark and watched another storm roll in with a close ear to the battery operated radio.
It was 2am when I photographed the backyard from my parents bedroom window.
The storms stayed at a distance for the rest of the night and somehow everyone managed to doze off at some point during the long night.
We woke to still no electricity. A multitude of our neighbors were in the same boat.
Later we also found out that three of my aunts and my uncle were also without electricity. We are quite fortunate to be city dweller and have city water and sewer as well as a gas water heater. All but one of my aunts and uncles have their own wells and without electricity have no water.
As it turns out were were left the whole weekend without power.
When the sun set, we all went to bed and brushed teeth by the glow of flashlight.
Sunday we returned home from the afternoon celebrating a cousin's graduation to find a handful of brothers entertaining themselves and a friend with candlelit shadow puppets.
By this morning the impact of technology withdraw was quite apparent. It has become such an extension of our lives.
Dad noted the habitual refridgerator opening of the brothers throughout the day. They would go to open the fridge and realize that had no purpose.
I stood at the 'fridge's water dispenser with my cup readied for filling on more than one occasion only to realize a few seconds later this futile act.
Walking into a room I would flick the light switch off purely out of habit even though I had just walked through it in the dark.
It was very interesting to see our reactions to electrical limitations. We spent more time sitting in a room together and also less time at home. The natural rhythms of the day took hold - waking with the light and sleeping with the night.
This evening power was restored. Lights appear with the flick of a switch, and computers attach to the internet. Fans lull us to sleep and a water is dispensed cold.
It was a hot evening, our family had decided to go fend off the heat at the movie theater. My brother Zachary called to be picked up. He had a been a camp councilor for the week and need retrieving.
My mother and I quickly left to go get him. Just as we made our way the rain started to pour and wind began to howl. I managed to maneuver the half dozen miles cross country. Branches were quickly hitting the pavement and I had to dodge them. I dismissed my mother's urges to pull over and wait for the rain to pass. It was cat and dogs by the time we made it to Zachary.
With him in the car we headed west. The sky was green. I have always heard that when the weather is turning bad the sky is green and I had never witnessed the exact hue until that moment. It made my stomach churn.
We made it home in time to run into the house as the winds began to howl. We found the portable battery operated radio as the lights flickered over head. Then the power was out and we saw the sparks fly. The wind had blown a branch off of the tree nearest our house and it had landed on the power line, tearing it from the main line.
The storm continued to wail as mother called the power company to let them know what had happened and soon the town maintenance and fire teams were checking the wire for live electricity.
Though that storm passed for the moment trees were down everywhere and 70,000 people in the area were left without power.
As the night continued on, our family sat in the dark and watched another storm roll in with a close ear to the battery operated radio.
It was 2am when I photographed the backyard from my parents bedroom window.
The storms stayed at a distance for the rest of the night and somehow everyone managed to doze off at some point during the long night.
We woke to still no electricity. A multitude of our neighbors were in the same boat.
Later we also found out that three of my aunts and my uncle were also without electricity. We are quite fortunate to be city dweller and have city water and sewer as well as a gas water heater. All but one of my aunts and uncles have their own wells and without electricity have no water.
As it turns out were were left the whole weekend without power.
Saturday I came home to find the brothers and dad in a killer game of RISK.
When the sun set, we all went to bed and brushed teeth by the glow of flashlight.
Sunday we returned home from the afternoon celebrating a cousin's graduation to find a handful of brothers entertaining themselves and a friend with candlelit shadow puppets.
By this morning the impact of technology withdraw was quite apparent. It has become such an extension of our lives.
Dad noted the habitual refridgerator opening of the brothers throughout the day. They would go to open the fridge and realize that had no purpose.
I stood at the 'fridge's water dispenser with my cup readied for filling on more than one occasion only to realize a few seconds later this futile act.
Walking into a room I would flick the light switch off purely out of habit even though I had just walked through it in the dark.
It was very interesting to see our reactions to electrical limitations. We spent more time sitting in a room together and also less time at home. The natural rhythms of the day took hold - waking with the light and sleeping with the night.
This evening power was restored. Lights appear with the flick of a switch, and computers attach to the internet. Fans lull us to sleep and a water is dispensed cold.
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