Boom, Boom...Out Go the Lights

The report from Thursday at 6:30 pm:

I’m sitting in the dark. The sun doesn’t go down for another two hours, but it’s already dark in my house. A storm with the energy of none I’ve seen in awhile swept through the area about two hours ago leaving a path of wind swept leaves, downed power lines and tree limbs in its wake. The most intense part of the storm lasted less than 15 minutes, but those few moments made for quite the rock and roll show.

I’m fortunate in that my house has always been untouched by power outages. In the ten years I’ve lived here I’ve lost power three, maybe four times. It’s never been out for more than two or three hours, and even in the midst of Hurricane Isabel a few years back when friends lost power for days on end I suffered nothing more than a flicker.

The first report from Dominion Power indicated I would be back in business by 7:00 pm. However, after a quick drive through the neighborhood and a survey of the damage I wasn’t too surprised when the latest update changed the time frame to more like 11:00 pm. Certainly, I should be able to be off the grid for 7 hours. Actually, it’s nice. It’s quiet except for the sounds of tweeting birds and gentle rainfall outside my back door.

I just wish I could find my headlamp.