Smoking by Candle Light

[winton]

Tonight, about dusk, a transformer blew in our neighborhood. Suddenly my plans for then evening changed. Since I could not use the computer, it was a golden opportunity to smoke a pipe. I carried a pipe, a candle stick, and some tobacco out to the garage. I did wander out to talk to our neighbors and they had called the power company. The power came back, a little after their estimate. I am really glad that I was not responsible to fix a transformer in the dark on a ladder!
Obviously, the power is back now.

 

[dottiewarden]

Having a pipe and tobacco ready for life's little inconveniences can often take the edge off the situation.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Although I'm glad your power is restored, one could also say that its coming back on was a loss. You don't realize how much noise there is, until you've lost power. I have been awakened in the middle of the night by a power outage. Why? Because the silence is actually quite loud. Even if you're not running a fan, or air conditioner, etc., what we tend not to hear when our power is working, is the electricity itself. It's like there's a humming in the walls. So when the power does go out, the absolute silence can wake you, just as easily as a loud noise. Tonight, with the power out, could have been a chance to smoke that pipe by candlelight in true silence and reflect on life within your own mind with no outside interference.

 

[piper64]

How true Anthony, life is so fast nowadays we all could do with forced power shortage every so often.

 

[jvnshr]

Although I'm glad your power is restored, one could also say that its coming back on was a loss.

I was going to say that.

 

[mikethompson]

A windstorm swept through here in the spring and we lost all power and internet for a few hours. It was actually pretty good. The internet was down for a few days, as lines had to be repaired. We have internet phone and no cell phones, so we couldn't call anyone and here's the kicker, they couldn't call us. That was refreshing not to get sales calls. Ironically, when everything came back you feel like you've lost something.

 

[5star]

I moved back to the rural countryside after living many years in big cities. One of the first things I recognized was how drastically quieter it is here. There was s a constant background noise in cities that is louder than most people realize. - Among my favorite times in the city was when a snow storm closed down most traffic & forced most people to stay home from school & work. The other favorite time was when the electric power went out. On both such occasions, the city was much quieter and more peaceful.

 

[winton]

The main downside of the power outage, was that I saw a pipe for sale on another pipe forum. As I was writing a PM to bid on the pipe, the power went out. When it came back, the pipe was already sold.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Had dinner with an old friend from New Orleans. Power was out- completely out- for a very long time. At least 30 days, maybe a lot longer. He said that 350,000 refrigerators were destroyed by rotting food. Folks weren't allowed back into their houses to empty them and prop the doors open. And the humidity there would probably damage them anyway.