Let there be light....

On July 8th, 2013, due to heavy rain and flash floods we did not have power for 4.5 hours in Mississauga. No TV, radio, lights or cordless phones! We stood outside the house mingling with neighbours who said there were heavy rains and floods in Toronto which is about 15-20 minutes away from us. It was barely a drizzle where we were. We hurried around the house before it got dark looking for candles and flashlights. After about an hour with no power we were conserving our cell phones just in case. It seemed like a repeat of the brownout in 2003. We didn't have power for about 8+ hours as I remember. Our family of 4 sat around the living room playing a game of phase 10. We stopped after it got too dark and we couldn't tell the difference between the green and blue cards. Everything was so dark and quiet! There was no conversation, just silence as we watched the candles flicker back and forth. Every now and then someone got up and tried switching on a light to a room just out of habit. How we take the little luxuries in life for granted! No electricity and/or no water is the norm amongst most of the world. Rolling blackouts is how some countries conserve electricity. I am so thankful I live in a country where I flick on the switch and there is light. "For how long?" some people say.... I do hope for a very long time. We snuck in a few surfs on the internet and heard of a GO train being stuck in water and people needing to be rescued. About 2 hours in darkness and silence we had power! A flurry of activity ensued with everyone setting their digital clock radios and getting back on the internet for more updates.

It was only the day after that we would really comprehend the extent of water, damage and drama that occurred the day before. There were pictures upon pictures of people wading in the water, using their canoes, cars immersed in water, the GO train rescue and even a snake on the train...yuck! I had to travel on the GO 2 days later and yes I was looking around and did not let my legs rest on the ground for too long.

• We so take our little luxuries for granted. Thank goodness for hot water, internet, phones and light. We didn't learn our lesson last brownout, but we are getting us some old fashioned phones.... the kind you plug in.
• I do enjoy occupying one room in the house with my family, sitting in silence with nothing but a few candles flickering for light. It's simple and just bliss.
• It's always good to be prepared. I am not sure how prepared we would have been had we had no power for longer. I refuse to be one of those doomsday "preppers" but it's something to think about.

I do hope we have no rolling power outages or big blackouts and brownouts. I am a wimp and do need my power and yes, hot water too. I am not sure how long we will last without it. Our blackout did remind me to be very thankful of our little luxuries! It also made me think of how we will be ready if we have an outage for longer...I hope I won't ever have to find out!!