Darkness falls on dinner.

I don't want to complain, I really don't, especially since it's been a long time since we had to go without electricity. When we did in the past, it usually was the dead of winter, when heavy snow or winds would take down a power line, and that meant the electric starter on the gas furnace wouldn't, well, start the furnace. The difference between having no electricity in the summer and in the winter, in these northern climes, is the difference between lack of comfort and lack of safety.

Nevertheless, it was a drag when the ol' Tropical Storm paid us a call on Tuesday. Hardest rain I've seen in ages lashed the house during the morning. Still, I was able to get the dogs out to play during a lull, and later made it to the library for some research materials without encountering any flooding. Kudos to the town for great improvements to the sewers since we moved here. Used to be a typical April downpour meant intersections you could float through.

When the Jupiter Pluvius section of the entertainment was over, the wind began in earnest. Lights flickered, flickered, flickered, but held. It was an inconvenience, especially for my wife, who got flickered out in the middle of a business meeting at which she was presenting. But everyone understood, since the massive storm was all over the area. Leaves and branches were flying everywhere. A neighbor's trampoline wound up in my backyard. (Not the neighbor who will be arrested by the FBI one day; the other one.)

Seems like it was even worse in the city. In Queens, a man was killed by a falling tree, and there were lots of other injuries.

In the evening I was making dinner. Nuking up some basmati rice (the easiest means I have found) and stir-frying some vegetables when blorp. Everything went dark. We joined more than a third of county residents who lost power.

This was bad news for the utility workers. It didn't do my dinner any good, either.

Fortunately I was able to recover. The gas stove has electrical starters for the burners, but I keep kitchen matches around for just such emergencies. I transferred the rice to a pot and restarted it, eventually getting it cooked past he crunchy stage while I finished the rest. Then we had a candlelit dinner. How nice. How dark. It was dark outside and the candle wasn't much help. They say you eat with your eyes first. Not this time.

We were very lucky -- we got the power back about three hours later. As I write this, some people I know are still awaiting the return of electricity. I don't think I know any of the people who got injured, but I'm sure some of my friends and acquaintances got property damage.

We were not quite out of the woods, though. Through the night the power kept blipping off and on as the crews continued work in the area, and every time that happened it rebooted the cable box and the hardwired smoke detectors, which would make noise that freaked out large dog Tralfaz. Between that and the massive headache I got from the huge change in atmospheric pressure, it was a rough night.

All of it was a good reminder, though, as usual with things taken for granted. Big thanks to the bucket brigades, the guys who go after live wires and tree limbs in stormy weather and dark of night to get us the power we need. And thanks to the human ingenuity that has given us electricity in our homes. It's easy to forget how dark the dark is until you can't turn on the lights. Civilization may have its discontents, but don't count me among them.