Thursday, August 18, 2011

The One With the Blackout

(I apologize for any mistakes within this post which is being written via my phone)

The power is out, it has been for several hours now and PECO is expecting it to be out for several more. I'm OK with this. I love blackouts!!!

There was a Friends episode once where the power went out. I loved this episode, it was one of my favorites. I lOve those experiences where something happens that stops the norm and causes people to slow down and find fun in the unusual. Tonight has been exciting for me. I can feel the buzz around me neighborhood. People wondering how long this will last. People drawn outside who would normally never step foot outdoor to talk to a neighbor. All around me is pitch black, the only light that can be seen is coming from the Comcast building. That along with the low buzz of their generators. Let's face it, the cable company can never be without power! They are hard at work right now!

I find the fact that they have power amusing. The Comcast building is sort of like the Mecca of my neighbor. Since moving here over a year ago I've had several people ask me where I now live. I give them the name of the town, neighborhood and street and they all respond saying "I don't know where that is.". But follow it up with "I'm one block away from the Comcast building" and everyone instantly can picture my street!

Tonigt was quiet. No TV, know radio, know loud neighbors music. Just me. I folded laundry, played guitar for a bit, read a book and listened to the crickets chirp. It was fun.

When I was in middle school a tornado went trough my hometown and we were without power for over 4 days. My family saw this as an adventure. I have a lot of fond memories of that time. I've also never been one to be scared of storms. I kind of like them, the bigger the better. When I was younger my dad and I used to love sitting on the porch during storms listenging to the rain and watching the clouds. I remembe the first time i was ever allowed to stay home without my parents and was put in harge of my sister and i, a storm came and a tree fell on our house. I was told i handled this situation like a champ!

Tonight was no different. I was driving home right about when the storm started. I purposefully took the long way, past the creek to see if it flooded, through the woods to see if any trees had fallen (to grandmothers house we go?). I'm not sure why bu I kind of enjoy the drama of a big storm. Maybe it's because my dad is an EMT and tends to go towards disasters, not away. We would always stop to watch a good fire, accident or tree through a house. There have been several times throughout m life that my dad has heard a call come through his radio about something that happened and he looks at me with a smile on his face and says "wanna go see?". Does this make me weird? Strange? A little twisted? Maybe. I'm not even sure what it is I like about it but I do.

Tonight was fun, some down branches, some flooding, and a power outage...what more could my twisted little heart ask for?

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