Our daughter is home but the storms are just starting, literally. Shawna blew out her birthday candles, cut the cake and passed around the ice cream. An hour later, all the relatives were on the road. They had to take off for two reasons. Reason number one: Monday morning is a work day. Reason number two: there was a severe thunderstorm coming in. And severe it was!
It was one of those storms where the rain comes in from the sides in waves and sheets instead of vertically. It poured for a half hour with enormous cracks of thunder and lightening. The rain did lighten up but the thunder kept going. Around 7:00 PM, the lights went out.
Fortunately, my mother was very giving. Quite a few years ago she moved to San Antonio. As she was packing up she shared many of the items that had blessed our home with memories. One of those items was an antique oil lantern. She gave me the antique glass lantern that had decorated our display shelves. I always keep this lantern full just in case of emergency. This evening it chased the shadows from our living room.
It is strange to think how dependent we have become on electricity. Every time we turned around I heard my husband, the kids or myself trying to flip a switch to turn on the lights. Or, how about our entertainment? Normally we spend the evening watching T.V., playing on the computer or the son is on the phone with his girlfriend.
This evening was an exception as we lit the lantern and pulled out a board game. We had a good time playing a "Harry Potter' board game. It was a take-off of the game "Clue". My husband and son have been playing Clue on the computer and have been beating the game quite often. You would have thought that they would have won with all the practice that they have been getting. Guess who won? Yep, it was me. It was a fluke, but I'll take what I can get.
It slowly got dark and it was reminiscent of many years ago when all that was available were lanterns and candles. I went for a walk later on that night. As I walked I looked at the many houses that were without electricity. Even without the powers of modern convenience our house still had more light than any in the neighborhood. What does that say about our family? I can't figure out if it is positive or negative. On one hand we were prepared for this kind of situation. On the other hand, even without modern convenience we wanted our environment to have a lot of light. Is this wasteful or just the way we are? Do we want the light to chase away the encroachment of darkness. Is this a primeval reaction? Or, does my family like a lot of light?
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Lights Out!
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3 comments:
Nice to hear about the family. Keep the newsy items coming. I enjoy this very much. Nice to have Daughter home.
Your blog is getting dusty! Where are you?
Glad you were so well prepared for the lights going out. I'm nowhere near that prepared - I do have one of those lamps though it needs a new glass to protect the flame. And I moved my candles from the bottom kitchen drawer. Totally don't remember where I put them.
Hope your kids started school with excitement and wonder. Good luck with the "old" one starting college this year!
Oh how I can relate. I too have an oil lantern, not from Mom, but still it is pretty. I have at times used mine much like you did as a light in the dark. However, many a night, I have lit it in my bedroom, turned out the lights, and read by it just for the fun of it. I never got much read for I soon would fall asleep, but it sure was fun.
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