Earl and I were displaced to a local hotel three days ago when violent weather came through our area and knocked the power out in our condo development. It was 3:15 PM on Sunday, November 17.
It didn’t look so ominous at first, but as the early sunset gave way to nighttime it was clear how dark it would be. It became cold over the next hours as well; and we had no TV, no Internet, no lights, nothing to distract us. The next day, when the thermostat went below sixty degrees, we moved to the Holiday Inn Express.
The HI is less than a mile away, and everything there was going strong: Bob Evans®, the gas station, even a few straggly houses on that commercial strip. In essence we could see power from our home, but we couldn’t access it.
The outage area started at the stoplight south of the hotel. For the past three days every time Earl and I left we checked that stoplight, figuring that if it had returned to working order our condo development wouldn’t be far behind.
This morning the stoplight worked. With high hopes, Earl drove to our condo. But no power. Still, he called me and said he’d seen utility trucks in the area. I went about my business until Earl called again.
He said, “It’s 1:07 PM and we have power.”
I was running errands, but I headed home. Deliberately drove the way I would see the stoplight. And, as I approached, it turned bright red. I was never so happy to stop.
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