Blackout, or, How Loudly Can Three Children Scream?

About 5:15 tonight the lights went out. I heard a loud POP and the house went dark. This was in the middle of a song-and-dance by the kids, who were boisterously watching Fat Cat on the Sesame Street Old School DVD. The girls just could not hang. They were crying so hard and were so afraid that I thought I would cry. Worse yet, it was dinnertime, and no dinner! I called Hubby Hub on the cell and said, I'm getting these kids out of here. And wonders never cease, Sarah Smith showed up at just that moment to drop off random tupperware and kid cups and helped me load the kids in the van (and tried to minimize the hysteria, despite her own boy having a rough go himself). The girls held it together through an entire dinner at Outback, and by the time we got back the neighborhood had electricity again.

I always forget how ominous the city can be until the power goes out, and the houses melt upwards into the dusky sky. But just like my friend coming in at just the right time to save the day, I appreciate the light that much more, now that I've stepped out of darkness.