Earlier this month, our power went out for about three hours one evening. Any plans (aka work) we had were put on hold as our Wifi was out. Initially we went outside to see if it was just our home that lost its power or if our neighbors were also experiencing it. One neighbor stood outside his open garage checking out the situation and another neighbor stood on her roof also looking around, so it was clear that we were not alone.

I soon received a text from another neighbor asking if our power was also out and asked if we could come over and open her garage door, which we did. At that point it was still light outside, but we started looking for flashlights to see if any needed batteries. I called APS from my cell phone and an automated voice told me that there was “a disruption” in the area and the power was due to come back on in around two hours.

The temperature was about 112 degrees that day so the house started getting a little warm but we didn’t want to open up the refrigerator or freezer so the food inside would stay as cold as possible (fortunately we had finished eating dinner already.)

Once it started getting darker outside, it came time for some flashlight fun and the two younger boys started playing some adventure game with their flashlights, which kept them busy. The temperature started getting a little uncomfortable, but we kept hydrated. I called APS again and this time the automated message said the power would be back on around 10:30 p.m.

Fortunately a few days earlier, a friend had given us a little USB-powered fan so my youngest son thought to plug it into his laptop, which still had some battery life. So he plugged that in for some cool air.

At some point, my youngest said, “This is so fun, I hope this happens again!”

Not long after that, at about 9:30 p.m., the power came back on.

The evening in the dark – and my youngest son’s optimism – inspired this song: