Tonight we had guests for dinner. Everything was so nice. The kids were behaving. The food actually turned out very well. The conversation was quite engaging. And then the light started to flicker.
I thought at first that it was just a bulb above the table that was ready to burn out and thought nothing of it, but then all the bulbs started to flicker and the next thing we knew ... POOF! All the power went off! It came back on within seconds and everyone cheered, but a bit prematurely. The lights all flickered again and then went off for good.
I had thought about making our dinner really classy by lighting a few candles, but with seven kids involved, I had decided against it. After the lights went out, I ended up digging out all the candles I had and lighting them all. Oh, what a treat for the kids! They all loved it! Well, Christopher was quite leary of the whole thing at first, but he got used to it.
So after we were finished eating, we were a bit at a loss as to what to do. The kids had all wanted to play in the basement, but it was way too dark and there was no way I was going to let them take candles downstairs! (We had no working flashlights. Go figure. I've learned my lesson, though. I have to HIDE several flashlights from the boys because they drained all the batteries!!) The kids played hide and seek for awhile, but they kept running and bumping into each other because it was just too dark.
We decided to have our ice cream sundaes for dessert by candlelight. It was a lot of fun actually, because it was something so out of the ordinary. Timothy cracked us all up though when he ran upstairs to get his mini-flashlight from his room. He shouted down to us, "Hey! Guess what?! The lights up here don't work either!"
We ended up all playing Uno by candlelight and the kids, and the parents, had so much fun! It was definitely a memorable evening, and not one I would CHOOSE to repeat, but because of the uniqueness of it all, we'll remember this night together for a long time! Just before our guests were ready to leave, the lights came back on and everyone cheered again! The power had been off for only about two hours, but it's amazing how much we take electricity for granted!
The power has been on ever since, and I'm thankful because now my dishwasher is humming, the house is warming up again and the toilets are all flushed.
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7 comments:
Yep- there is a lot to be said for toilets that flush!
hey, you have the same problem with flashlights as we do! But our electricity goes off often enough in any season (not lots, but probably every other month...wind, snow, you name it), that I keep books of matches high up so I know where to find them...
And yeah, isn't it a GREAT thing to finally be able to flush toilets??
Sounds like fun! No one will forget the evening for a while!
What an exciting evening for you all. Uno by candlelight. Sundaes by candlelight.
The dark basement reminds me of Wolcott's dark basement when the lights went out during the electrical storm Marilyn M. prayed she'd see back east, after our day at Shoenbrun (sp?) The boys will surely remember this day!
And I'm also very thankful for electricity.(^_^)
Do you remember when Toth's sat around our kitchen table playing games in candlelight during a Christmas snowstorm?
Candlelight dinner and it wasn't even Valentine's Day yet! How romantic. At least you got a practice session in before Feb. 14.
We have several high powered flash lights around the house for such occasions. Also have one flash light that you just have to shake and it will light up. (And usually our batteries are all drained due to grandkids that forget where they put them and left them burning. (Not the ones in MN either)
Need to borrow a generator? We can live without electric, but no water is a problem. Here's a solution, get a 200gal bright orange water tank and build a tower about 10 feet ABOVE your house. You'll have water pressure even when the electric goes out. If you take this option, please send me a photo of your house and the look on your neighbors' faces. ;-)
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