Yes, it is supposed to be this dark in the night...

But something isn't right, oh, the digital clocks are dark, too. The power must be out, sigh, luckily one isn't worried about no light in the bathroom - things don't really move when I am not watching, it will all be there. There is reflected light over Tacoma in the cloudy sky, so it is a local outage, as I listen to the rain and the wind and the trees blowing down. Where did we put the emergency matches, candles and lamp? touch the wall the hallway is clear, I didn't leave the vacuum in the way last night. Find the matches beside the knives and the pistols, emergency stuff, now where are the candles - I like them on top of the book cases, since I can reach them, but she doesn't and the only ones I find in the dark are the two on the dining room wall beside the large mirror, I light them and go back to bed - civilization and security has been re-established in this home for tonight. This is my punishment for not finishing "One Second After"?

We sleep deep, the room and whole house are cooler than the bed, don't you love comforters and quilts? But after eight (why so late? no cows to milk, silly) we crawl out and remake the bed and start our day. Every room I enter I slide my had to the wall to flip the switch, and that is futile. Being the guy I offer to go get coffee and doughnuts, and I go. Down the road I find the crew replacing the light pole and find 22nd Avenue blocked on both ends, but I drive around to escape and get to the Safeway. Priorities: a bottle of wine, doughnut holes, muffins and two large black coffees and two medium hot chocolates, drive back home disregarding all the barriers to stop my driving on 22nd Avenue - just hoping hot lines don't drop on my Caravan while there. Home to the quiet.

We aren't really Americans in the suburbs today, nope. I use the front door to leave and enter my home - real Americans go in through the garage door, don't they? The house is still silent, no television, no music, no noise from the refrigerator, furnace nor fans. I turned on the gas fake fireplace, and it is warming the family room so we can stare at the blank High Definition television set - Sony makes fine products. My wife adds sugar and creamer to her coffee and I open the muffins and make a mess, but dampen my hunger. Ah, now how does conversation go? what can I say that will fill the voids in my mind, our hearts and our lives? Not to worry, one of the things that comes to mind is that for forty-one years we have cared about each other - no it isn't an anniversary, just thinking of how long our together has been. My wife going down that memory lane reminds me that we have to do some more work on the grandparents books for the grandson, and she gets the album of my son's baby pictures out, and then starts putting the grandson's pictures beside certain of the son's shots - they could be the same baby, or at least related. It is good to have the distractions off, the background noises and listen to each other and drink coffee and hot chocolate. Prep for church, includes Earl's opening the garage door to take the Cadillac out for my wife, and then closing the door - since he is the tall fellow with the short lady.

Off to church in our separate directions, I told her to go south first so she won't see the repair crew and have to turn around. All about giving thanks this week, and so I do, I make the coffee for after the service, talk and greet help move stuff and worship, no choir today the director is away. The power is back on when I get home - and I can sink into the recliner and watch football that is left (we are three hours behind the East Coast). The wind is still stirring leaves, more trees to fall.