The Blackout

While the temperature here in Puyo is fairly constant, the weather is not necessarily. Granted that we have not been here a year yet, and that we are still learning about the "seasons", I was still compelled to tell my brother-in-law recently that, while we have some big rains, nothing here compares to a West Texas storm*.

Last night, Alesha and I were sitting downstairs in the hammocks talking and I mentioned that I heard the rain. After listening for several seconds we realized that the rain that we heard was not hitting the house yet, so it must be still on its way. Even so, it already sounded "torrential". Then with one big crack of lightning that must have come right over our heads, for the sound caused us both to jump, the rain came down on the house, and it came down hard. Since the children had only recently been put to bed, we decided to go upstairs and check on them. They were fine. The metal roof over our heads, though secure and protecting, was very loud. We closed our west-facing windows since the wind was driving the rain inside and listened to the rain.

Then, with another crack of thunder the power went out. I went to the window. It was not just our house, but the whole block. And then I saw that even downtown Puyo was out of power and more. As I scanned the horizon, I realized that the whole town lost power (this was a first for us to see). It was not pitch black since there were still several cars on the road and I could see the faint lights of Shell and other neighboring communities rising over the hills. By the time that I found Alesha, she was in the process of lighting a candle. We left the candle in the bathroom and watched the blackness and listened to the rain.

After about 15 minutes, the power came back on and the street was full of lights again, and with a start I woke out of my semi-hypnotic state. At the time, I had not realized what drew me to gaze out the window with such interest. Later recollecting my thoughts and feelings, I understood how the darkness reminded me of living out of town, in the country, back in Texas. It seemed so much more natural for there to be dark at nighttime and not bright. *sigh* On a more humorous note, during the power outage, I recall seeing my neighbors wandering through their house with a flashlight; I found this humorous only because he and our reactions to the complete loss of power were such opposites.

While Alesha and I still much prefer living outside of the city (and perhaps one day we will do it again), "the city is where the people are" (-J.F.).
Enjoy!
TaylorH


*Nothing that I have experienced in Houston, compares to a big West Texas storm either. Of course, I was too young to recall some of the really big hurricanes that hit Houston when I was young.