Write about a time when the power went out.

When I was younger I lived in a area where the power went out frequently and sometimes for days at a time. We had a gas stove and a coal heater, so we never worried about heat or warm food. Our light was kerosene lanterns.

This past winter I had my first experience losing power for more than an hour in a big city. It was December and it was my son’s birthday.

We started out the day by using the computer to talk with my sister to see if she had electricity. She lives about an hour away and she did have electricity. There was electricity a couple of blocks away too. Ours was out because of all the ice on our older lines. The kids and I had a fun day playing and enjoying the silence that comes with no electricity.

My husband decided that he would buy a generator so we could have lights, use a little heater and keep the fridge cool. It was nice how my husband was so concerned with us. I told him several times that it was not a problem, because temperature changes usually don’t bother kids and I was used to no electricity. My husband decided to go to the local store and buy the generator anyway. When he got home it took him 45 minutes to get the electrical cord out and get the generator hooked up, but then we had lights and a little heat. I thought it was good to have the fridge going again, so things stayed cold. It didn’t help our supper. We had bowls of cold cereal.

My son opened up his presents, no cake, as I had been unable to bake one. Right after we got doing all of that, the electricity came back on. And our house got warm again and my son had a birthday to remember.