There were enormous wind gusts with a little bit of rain. Wind gusts were in the region of 90 kmph. And that brought about a blackout. We lost power for over 4 hours from about 2:30 pm in the afternoon and it returned well past 7 PM in the dark. Thankfully today was not a cold day yet, so there was no impact on feeling too cold or pipes bursting.

But, it brought our family together. The last time we had a power outage for a few hours was nearly 7-8 years ago. It was easy to see how lost we were without the modern amenities that we are used to liking and getting used to and addicted to:

• Power utility, duh!

• Internet or WiFi (our phones still had 4G connection, so were not deprived)

• Our phone batteries were dying down, so we had to conserve them as we had limited ways to recharge them.

• No way to make coffee, our coffee maker was down without power

• No way to heat food, the microwave was out so was our gas burner stoves which needed the power to turn on. We could always have food like cold cereal as a backup…

• The fridge could keep the stuff cold or frozen only a while, but thankfully got the power back before there was any impact

• The fridge water dispensers would not work, though of course tap water was available

• The garage door was not operable, so the cars were stuck outside

• We were unprepared and could not find simple things like batteries, matches, candles, torch lights.

The funny thing is that we thawed out as a group slowly and actually spent time talking instead of watching cable or Netflix together which we usually do as a group together. And just as we were expanding our communication and bonding, the power came back… and spoilt the party. Perhaps again a moment like this in another 6-7 years? Pity that we are like this, but yet we are…