Yesterday afternoon around 4pm my power went out. It's not unusual for a transformer to blow on our street on a hot day when every home is running it's air conditioning, but this was far more than that. All of San Diego county, parts of Orange County to the North, parts of Baja Mexico to the south, and parts of Arizona all lost power. 1.4 million households were without power, and it sounds like it can all be traced to an error made by one power company worker in Arizona. I feel sorry for that person.
Fortunately for me I was already home, so I read until it got too dim, lit the (usually purely decorative) candle sconce in the bathroom and took a tepid candle-lit shower. Then I collected an oil lamp, grabbed some food from my fridge as quickly as possible, and headed out to the communal lawn in front of my building to join my neighbors. There was already a roaring fire in a fire pit, someone had brought out a propane lantern, and the kids were playing with battery powered light sabers and running around having a blast. The moon was approaching full, and I could see stars. Stars! The light pollution here is normally so bad that the sky is dark blue with wispy clouds lit from beneath, and no stars visible at all.
2 comments:
That sounds quite fun. I wonder why you have an oil lamp?
We have a small oil lamp because they're pretty objects, and M and I like archaic gadgets, especially if they involve flame. We also have candle sconces in our dining area & one in our bathroom. They are rarely used but we like them as decorative thingos.
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