Fun in the Dark

Several nights ago our entire family had been out for the evening. In fact, If I'm not mistaken, we had been at the aforementioned PTO meeting. Regardless, when we returned home our power was out.

Know this: if I go outside and blow really hard on our power lines, the power goes out. Also, our house is the only one in our neighborhood that is tied to a power system from another city. So, when our power goes out, everyone else in the neighborhood around us still has power. It's crazy. I have put Alabama Power on speed dial, though, since I call them at least twice a month. I know the recorded message so well that I can just punch in the numbers without even listening to the prompts.

Having the power off really irritates me. I will walk around and turn switches on, just to make sure it's really off. I also forget it's off and turn switches on expecting light to come on, or microwave to start nuking...but, no. It makes me feel foolish, really.

After returning to our darkened house, I quickly lit some candles and our oil lamp so I could do the dishes and get ready for tomorrow. I was busy in the kitchen and I heard everyone else talking from the rear of the house. Michael had all the kids on our bed, battery operated radio on, and they were all talking..."Dad, tell us stories from when you were little!".

I left the dishes and joined the fun. We rehashed the Twinkie story (of course), the story of when Michael broke his arm, about how I beat up Lee Harrety when he was mean to my little brother. They've heard these stories over and over, but they still ask for them. We laid there in a pile - arms over legs, and legs over middles until well past 9pm.

I think it was the first time I was ever sad to see the lights come back on.

Bless ya!