Oct
31
Last night I was upstairs on the computer, talking on the phone and happily reading/commenting on blog posts when out of the blue the lights went out. I was talking to hubby on the phone and told him it was darker than dark, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. You probably wouldn’t know this but I HATE the dark, can’t stand it and get quite a bit panicky when I can see anything! I kept talking, telling him how I couldn’t see anything as I held my hands out in front of me trying to feel my way out of the room, down the hall and stairs. I realized when I was on the stairs that Don was no longer on the phone, my cell phone had gone dead; that’s not supposed to happen when the power goes off is it? I did pretty good on the stairs until I was close to the bottom, I missed a step and stumbled down the last 2-3 stairs. That wasn’t too bad because I didn’t go all the way down on the floor. I looked out the front windows and could not see a thing outside, NO lights anywhere……I’ve never seen it that dark before. And unfortunately it was just as dark downstairs, it seemed darker even. I tried to make my way through the rooms to the kitchen where I could look for matches and candles. I dialed hubby’s phone back and was trying to talk to him again so he might call the power company for me since I could, you know, see nothing! He was having trouble hearing me, the phone was cutting in & out……just as I reached where I thought the drawer was with matches I tripped across something and quicker than a wink I fell face down, knocked my head and broke something off a shelf. He heard me holler and said “do you need help”….”Yes I need you to call the power company!” He only heard yes, disconnected our call and called the neighbors I found out later. I realized as I tried to pick myself up off the floor that I tripped over the door of the dishwasher I’d left open so I could unload it. Arghhh. I did find matches to light a candle because I was beyond panicky at that point and had a nice lump on my forehead. Grabbed my keys and candle, got in the car to drive somewhere, anywhere when I saw the neighbors banging on my front door.
They put my car up and took me across the street, they had flashlights and I didn’t! Because I’m prepared like a boyscout that way. The lights went out ALL over town, not one single place in town had lights, and it was very eerie and darker than I ever remember it being. They gave me an ice pack to put on my lump and while we were sitting in their front room I could see another car drive up in my driveway; I knew it had to be our other best friends because they know I don’t like being by myself. We all sat around for over an hour visiting and hoping the lights would come back on. I finally came back home with borrowed flashlights, found more candles to light and waited for the power to come back on…..eventually it did after about 2 1/2 hours. Then the internet went out and it took it a while to come back on. There were no storms or bad weather so we have no idea why the whole town blacked out.
I was so glad to see the sunshine this morning! I’ve done my walking, now need to get things cleaned up a bit and hubby will be home soon. It was hard to take a picture of your forehead! It doesn’t show up and look as bad as it feels to me…..it hurts to touch it this morning and it’s a little more discolored than this picture I took last night.
I’m glad it happened last night instead of tonight, because that would be hard with all the kids that will be out tonight if the whole town lost power!
Did I mention that I don’t like the dark? (Now you know I’m not so grown up and not quite right in the head)
“That’s the night the lights went out in Mississippi”
October 31st, 2007 at 11:07 am
Oh my – what a terrible experience. I’m so sorry you hurt yourself like that.
Once I was in a movie theater and the power went out – that was weird. But my daughter, who hates the dark like you, was home alone, and I knew she was freaking out. I quickly called her on my cell phone and she was indeed scared out of her mind. Fortunately it didn’t last long.
I hope your head mends quickly – and that you get lots of TLC!
October 31st, 2007 at 11:33 am
I don’t like the dark either! I’m so sorry you bumped your head…I’m sure it hurts bad. Hope it feels better soon! And, girl, get you some flashlight! 🙂 Happy Halloween!!!
October 31st, 2007 at 11:58 am
Wow! I’m glad you’re ok! How strange that it all just went out like that. Those Halloween spooks must have been out causing mischief!
October 31st, 2007 at 11:59 am
Ugh, that looks like a nasty bump. I bet it does hurt? So you fell face first into your tile floor in the kitchen and did that? You’re lucky you didn’t knock yourself out! I bet you won’t leave the dishwasher door down again for a long time! I’m so clumsy that I try not to leave anything open like that – I will turn around and bump into it in the daylight or with lights on! We do have lots of candles and flashlights and I know where they are, so I can find them in the dark. Tim has a huge Rigid flashlight that puts out a ton of light, and it stays in the garage, so that is always nice to have when the power goes out. I wonder what happened? No rain or any kind of bad weather. Usually if it’s a switch in the substation or something on the line, they can switch over and around it. It must have been big for it to wipe out that much of the grid.
Glad you’re ok and don’t have a concussion or anything! 🙂
October 31st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Oh, my! That is a terrible Halloween story. I am so sorry for you. I had heard on the new this morning that some had been without power but I really did not pay attention to where it was. I guess that was YOU.
Those Amish books I am reading really make me better understand what it is like without electricity. But they are not used to it.
I have a book for you. It is called “Last Light” by Terri Blackstock. Oh, my goodness now that is doing without. You will have to read it. Scary.
I am hoping you heal quickly. Sounds like you need to rest and for sure not do any vacuuming 🙂
October 31st, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I hope the knot on your forehead feels better now. I don’t know if this will make you feel better but my big, strong, 18-year old son also gets a bit panicky in the dark.
The other night I was reading in bed and he was in his room watching TV when the lights went out. I picked up my flashlight (I keep one by the side of the bed) and just aimed it at my bedroom door. Lo and behold, here comes the Kid to tell me that the power’s off and it’s dark. He made me shine my flashlight into the hallway so that he could see enough to go back into his bedroom to find his flashlight. My biggest fear at this time was getting up in the morning to wake the Kid for school. 😉
October 31st, 2007 at 1:23 pm
What a night! You don’t realize how much you love everything electrical until it is gone! I hope your injury will heal quickly and that there won’t be any more power mishaps. How strange!
October 31st, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Ouch, your poor little head! 🙁
October 31st, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I don’t like being in the dark either. It makes me feel claustrophobic. There was a story on the Sunday Morning show about a restaurant where you eat in the dark. It’s so dark you can’t see anything at all — have to feel for your food, drink. Now, just what is the point of that? They used a special light to film people just bumbling around trying to eat. It was weird!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Ow! Lights going out are no fun…especially when you’re home alone. During the summer when I was on surgery, I had gone to bed early (like 8:30!) because my head hurt. Well, around 9:30 I woke up b/c something did’t feel right…the power had gone out and my fan had stopped. Well, of course it was hot and i couldn’t get to sleep very well…FINALLY at 12:30 the power came back on and I could go back to sleep…to wake up at 5! Hope your head feels better!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Oh, that looks sore. Thank goodness you didn’t conk yourself right out. It’s amazing how dark it really does get when all lights go out. Hope your head feels better soon.
October 31st, 2007 at 10:16 pm
My goodness that sounds scary…you sure do have a lot of interesting adventures! I hope you have a less eventful day tomorrow!
November 1st, 2007 at 7:26 am
Oh my goodness, Gail! How awful!!! I hope your head is feeling better!
I usually kind of like it when we lose power. (Good thing, since it happens fairly often.)
November 1st, 2007 at 10:07 am
OUCH! What did you hit your head on? Hope you’re ok. Can’t believe you didn’t hurt yourself falling down the stairs, but on the dishwasher!
November 5th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
How awful! I know what you mean about being alone in the dark. Scares me to death. I’m glad you only got a bump instead of really hurting yourself. You could have really done some damage. I do things like leave doors open and then walk into them so don’t feel too bad. Glad you’re safe and things are back to normal.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Awww, you poor thing. reading this, I was scared for you. I get so scared when th power goes out, too … and being alone makes it a gazillion times worse. I’m so glad your husband made that call. I would have hated for you to be alone. (((HUGS)))