In the midst of 97°F on the Fry Meter, storm clouds gathered. Before James came home last night, they had become heavy with rain and spilled open in a tremendous wash. Lightning divided the sky and thunder rumbled. Willow clung to Mommy as she barked in defiance at the sound. Pidge said "cheep!"

James got home saying his route had been awash and he'd wished for a boat on part of his route. He prepared supper and the lights blinked off several times. We watched Whose Line is It Anyway as the storm raged around us and then passed over, then I put on second season of Hogan's Heroes and was listening to Patricia Crane's commentary when the lights blinked once...twice...and went off completely. It was just a little after nine.

Evidently the blackout was localized because we could see a streetlight way up Smyrna Powder Springs Road on one side and someone's lights if we craned our neck on the deck. But our whole neighborhood and the apartments beyond and the trailer park behind us was black as damp velvet. James and I went outside to see what we could see, but there wasn't much of anything. The rain had totally passed, although we could see some flashes of light to the west. Someone in a house down the street came out and got into their car, presumably for the light. It was cool outside at the moment and stuffy when we went back in. I had left Pidgie with a flashlight and that low glow was the only thing that lit up the house. It reminded me of when the house was just finished, when we would visit in late afternoon and walk around in the silence.

We found the Freeplay wind-up radio and so cheered Pidge with "teevee" and I called the electric company. Otherwise there wasn't much to do as we were trying to conserve our flashlights, since our Freeplay spotlight had gone belly-up before we moved. I collected the trash at one point, but mostly we lay back and tried to keep cool. Willow wandered around us panting in confusion. Pidge let out an occasional questioning chirp.

About eleven the lights popped on again and we had just put all the fans on afterburner—not wanting to put the air conditioner back on until we were sure the power would stay on. James got up to make my lunch while the power was on—and it snapped back off abruptly.

Finally it got too stuffy and we threw open all the windows upstairs and the doors; there was not even one of that proverbial breath of air, but at least it felt like it was circulating, if just a little. And we waited. Finally it was eleven and I was sleepy and James doubted he could sleep without his CPAP, but we dutifully showered by the light of James' LED "headlamp" and tried to sleep. "Tried" was the operative word as it was too stuffy for words and even though we had both rinsed off in cold water, I was even warmer than I'd been lying on the sofa.

The power came on after midnight with a snap and a whoosh of the fans. We waited twenty minutes before we closed up and cooled down.

I supposed without the air conditioning but with the fans it might have been bearable, but the stillness was dreadful. I don't know how people 100 years ago slept in nightshirts and nightgowns in airless rooms!

Today we seem to have "guests." I suppose they came around the edges of the screen on the deck: about two dozen little gnats who are perched on our ceiling! We've had a couple of the little critters buzzing around the kitchen since the weekend, but it appears that they invited friends in last night!

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:09:00 PM

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