Blackout

By this time the news may have reached families in Canada and elsewhere in America regarding the fairly large blackout we had yesterday in Southern California.  It occured at about 3:40 p.m., being at work, everything just shut off, but we have generators so it took only a couple seconds for that to kick on and we're back in business.

This was obviously taken after the lights came back on ~ the "O" is for Oceanside

Thanks to facebook, we all soon realized that the power outage was fairly widespread, as now it turns out, all of San Diego County, parts of Orange and L.A. counties, to places in Arizona and New Mexico (and also, Mexico) had all been affected.  It was a bit scary and surreal at first (being so close to 9/11) but as we slowly realized that the world was in fact not ending and we were sent home to brave ridiculous traffic. (Since all the power was out, no traffic lights were working, and every intersection was a four-way stop).

Once home tho, I have to say, it was strangely peaceful.  I don't think we realize how much "hum" there is in this world, almost subsonic white noise of stuff just running, we get so used to it. But getting home, seeing all my neighbors hanging out by our pool, laughing and chatting and being together, also made me realize how horribly "plugged in" we are, ourselves.

Our night turned out to be fantastic. We cooked (since the stoves are gas) and lit a bunch of tea lights (thanks to one of those large bags from IKEA that you buy but then seldom use) and had our neighbors over to share in our light.  We laughed and played charades by candle-light and talked about how we all need to hang out more, and we will =)  We already have a potluck planned for tonight. 

So, I guess there are two things that struck me about the blackout.

First, we really don't spend enough REAL FACE time with people. It gets easy to watch TV, play on a computer and we think we are communicating, but it's really superficial. There is so much joy when you simplify yourself and just sit and talk, and it forces you into community. It's so refreshing, and so completely how we are wired!  In fact, when our power did come back on at about 8:40 p.m., we turned all our lights off and continued to hang out ~ it was a precious time!

Jay and the neighbors, sorry they are so blurry.

The second and final thing I will leave you with ~ we are called to be light, light in this dark world.  And last night I felt that we were. When all else around us was so pitch black, our little candle-lit home filled with folks radiated a glow ~ and I like to think it's not just because of the candles, but because love and joy have a glow all their own. May we truly love our neighbors.!

Till Next Blog ~ love, a.

PS ~ I challenge anyone who reads to have a "blackout" of their own this weekend. Just turn off everything, unplug from technology and force yourself to spend some precious time with someone(s) you love ;)