The night the lights went out in Picayune...DURING THE SAINTS GAME!!

As promised, I am going to attempt a blog once a week or as the spirit moves me so to speak...oh look at me I'm Dr. Seuss. 

Anyway, I have to say that I have appeared to have been pulled into the aura that is the Saints.  I know, I am not a joiner, but I have come to just love this team!  Well, as any 'Sainted' follower knows, we had a game last night. While Mark headed over to 'The Link' to watch with all the men on the big screens; I was at home getting everything cleaned up and the girls settled so that I could watch myself.  Of course,  it did take a little longer than I expected to get everything 'ready' so the game had begun; but, I was still able to listen.  I had finished up by the time the score was 9-7(Saints) and was settling in to watch till the half at which time I could go take a quick shower and be back for the 2nd half.  Well, that was the plan.  Unfortunately, a random squirrel had decided to take a nightly run on the power-line and before we all knew it, we were in the dark!  I saw the lights flash for a brief second and then heard the oh to familiar sound of the transformer BOOM.  This was followed by the sound of banshee screams and panicked doorknobs and in ran my girls.  Poor Zoe was three at the time of Katrina and for about a year after every time we lost power she'd exclaim, "Momma, Daddy, it's another hurricane!"  Thankfully I had lit some candles earlier to relax the atmosphere after the long day so I was, at least, a little prepared for the darkness. A "flashlight for each child" hunt began and soon we all had lights. Shortly after, I began reading stories to the girls while we waited for the lights to return.

In the darkness, I did make a few observations though.  It's funny what you notice when you are deprived of power.  Of course, I do remember Katrina, but that was a true state of panic where this was a minor inconvenience so my senses were focused in a different way.  I first noticed how quiet it was, amid the chatter and sniffles, there was a different state of quiet.  Power has sound within itself, not to mention the noise of a TV, music or computer.  With power gone the only sounds were human noises and noises of the night, and that, to me, feels strange.  I have become comfortable with the 'hum" of energy, just barely out of our senses but it's there.  Another thing that I noticed right away was the darkness.  When you loose power it's not just your house but all the houses around you as well as street lights so you don't just have darkness, it's like 'advanced' darkness.  It truly wraps around you like a heavy blanket, not smothering, just covering. My children,also, seem very uncomfortable with this level of darkness. I talked with them about it being dark when they sleep but Zoe said, "We know the lights are there if we need them and now we can't use them because they are not there".  It's always interesting to get a child's point of view because they usually have such clarity of thought, or I think they do.

When Mark came in shortly after, he was not surprised by the power outage because he could clearly see that the whole street was out.  Once he arrived home, the power truck, that had been working on the problem, got the lights on to which Hannah declared, " Daddy fixed the lights!"  Though we had lost power for about an hour, all was soon back to normal and I did get to see the end of the game.

However, one thing that stuck with me through our hour of no power was how important light truly is.  Whether it is the light of a candle, a flashlight or a life we should never take it for granted and be ever thankful for its continued presence!

Blessings on this bright  and sunny day!