The Night...The Lights Went Out!
Things didn't exactly go as planned...Wednesday night!
I had just finished talking on the phone with my mother, like I do every night.
Then I went into my workshop to pack a couple of boxes, that I needed to ship.
I was listening to my ipod, while packing this heart dish, when I noticed a car drive by.
We live out in the country, on 5 acres near the state forest, so not many cars drive by,
especially at night. I looked up when I saw the headlights and I then I saw a flash
of light in the sky. I just assumed that it was lightning and went back to packing the box.
As I ripped off the last piece of packing tape...
everything went black!
I waited for a few seconds, hoping the lights would come back on, but they didn't.
So, I yelled for my son Nick, to get me a flash light. "Stay there...don't move!" He yelled back.
I tried to wait, but I was impatient. So...I felt my way through the workshop.
Leaving everything just where I had left it.
(Took these photos after I woke up the next day!)
When I finally reached the door and then made my way into the living room, I ran into
Nick, who had the flash light in his hand. We lit some candles and then Nick checked
the phone. I was hoping there was a dial tone, but there wasn't!
I guess we were making a lot of noise, because we woke up my husband who was
already sleeping upstairs. I yelled up the stairs and asked Jim where his cell phone was,
luckily it was in the living room. I turned it on and tried to get a signal, but it said
we had no service. I went to the front door...no service, I went to the back door...no service,
I went outside on the front porch and then went on the back porch...still no service!
"Let's drive up the road, until we get service," Nick said. At first I didn't really want to go.
It was late, I was tried and it was raining, but then I said, "Okay!" I grabbed the cell phone,
grabbed the flash light, got my keys out of my purse, blew out the candles and then we headed
out the back door. After getting in the truck, I tried to turn on the windshield wipers, but I
couldn't see...it was so dark. I reached up, turned on the overhead light and then started the engine.
"Crap!" I said out loud. "I have to back up and I can't see!" I backed up as straight as I could, then once I had enough room, I turned the truck around and drove down the driveway.
As I turned onto the road, I turned the radio on, had the cell phone in
one hand, while I drove with the other and kept looking for a signal.
(This is the road that we live on! I took this picture
a few years ago. I was standing in front of our house,
it's 162 feet from the road. The trees are bigger now!)
We drove up to the top of the hill and that's when we saw it!
I slammed on the brakes and just stared at the tree that was blocking my way.
Then I saw the wires...the live wires that were everywhere. I looked down at the road
and started to panic a little...the truck was on the wires! I started to back up, even
though I couldn't see behind me, it was pitch black. "Mom, turn around," Nick said.
I couldn't turn around though, there was nowhere to go and I just wanted to get out of
there! "I'm backing up!" I said a little too loudly. I backed up a little at a time and
then luckily I saw something shine in the darkness. It was my neighbors gate, so I backed
up into the short driveway, hoping I wouldn't hit it, while Nick guided my way. Thankfully
I was finally able to turn the truck around and we headed back home.
(This is our driveway)
After turning the off truck and heading for the back door, I fumbled with the keys.
It was a little difficult, unlocking the door, while I was holding the cell phone, pointing
the flash light at the door so I could see and trying to unlock it. Finally we made it inside.
While I was lighting the candles again, my husband came down stairs and tried his luck
with the cell phone, unfortunately he had the same results. So, we chatted for a while,
and then Nick and Jim went to bed. Then I got comfortable and started to work on chapter
five of my book. It was actually kind of cool to write a ghost story by candle light and
a flash light. It ended up taking four hours to get our power back on, but we still didn't
have a phone, cable, or Internet service...that took another four hours!
Note to Self!
Don't drive up the road after the power goes out, stay inside the house!
It was just one of those freaky things I guess, we didn't have a hurricane, or a tropical
storm, or a storm of any kind...at least not one that I knew about. I didn't even know it was
windy outside. I just assumed that maybe there had been a car accident near by and
someone had knocked over a pole...it's not like that hasn't happened before.
So, after waking up on Thursday, I took a few photos, finished packing the other box and
made out some bills for my husband to mail for me on Friday. Then I got busy making
treasuries. I had a deadline...I still had three to make before February 1st, and I wasn't sure
if I was going to make it, but I did!
Then Friday Happened!
Friday morning my husband left the house with the packages and the letters, but
he didn't make it to the Post Office. The truck broke down! "Crap!!!"
He had to get the truck towed to the house and he spent the whole day
trying to fix it, but it's still not fixed yet! So, we had to borrow my
mothers car...so Jim could ship the packages on Saturday!
My life is never dull...or boring!
It sure would be nice if something really, really good happened right about now!!!
