When the lights go out in the City

It has been a very dark week/weekend in St. Louis. At times, there were up to 750,000 people without power. In the dead heat of summer, you realize how dependent you are on air conditioning, or the very least a ceiling fan. The modern conveniences are gone. You go to the bathroom in the dark (hoping the last guy didn't leave the seat up or miss the target, per say). You have no cold drinks or ice in the fridge. You also realize all those pretty smelling candles are awful when you mix all the scents together just trying to see your way around your own house.

The air is silent...no ACs kicking on and off, no late night cars coming in and out because no one is having parties and very few restaurants are open. The restaurants have all been plagued by the power outage too. Half the city was tossing out freezers full of food. Others were more creative and had block party BBQs making sure nothing went to waste. You run your car near empty on gas and then realize there isn't a gas station with power any where around. And Walgreens, they have power, but the shelves have been wiped clean by the other survivors. As luck would have it the dog finished his food and needs more...but every pet store you drive to is without power. And the DMV, same story. Only one in St. Louis county had power this week/weekend. Hope they don't ticket you in your new van as you wanders the city with no plates.

It has been a week to reconnect with friends and family. With very few places to go, many were out in the streets visiting with the other neighbors without power. Then, there were the ones who sought refuge with lucky people like me with power. It gave us a chance to reconnect and catch up on all the little things in life that we forget about in hurried conversations on email or the phone in the evenings. Then as life slowly turns back to normal and the lights turn back on, we promise that we should all get together more often like this...reality is that we'll forget about the promises and this awful week by next weekend when everything is back to normal and you don't have to wait 20 mins at busy intersections with powerless traffic lights and a temporary stop sign.