Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Who Turned Out the Lights?!

Although I've had my fill of rain for a while I actually enjoy a good summer thunder storm - especially at night. There's something about the roaring thunder and flashes of lightening that spark the imagination. I grew up along the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York, which is near the Catskill Mountains. As a kid my Dad used to tell me that the sounds of thunder was from Rip Van Winkle waking up and bowling! The story of Rip, which was set in the Catskills, was created by American author Washington Irving - if you are unfamiliar with it check it out here.

Last night we had good thunderstorm - so good in fact that the electricity went out for quite some time.



Lightening hit a transformer and the sound of it blowing resonated through our town like a bomb going off. When I heard it I immediately jumped up and sprang into survival mode grabbing Ellie, clinging to Andy, and lighting every candle in the house.



You see the sound of the transformer shutting down was so loud that it scared the you know what right out of me.



My imagination started to run wild thinking about all the crazy things that could have caused the lights to go out. Of course, I didn't consider the obvious - a lighting strike - instead my mind went right to alien invasions. Maybe the fact that we had just watched the blockbuster movie Independence Day staring Will Smith is what caused my creative mind to conjure up all sorts of scary scenarios.

Once it was clear that we were safe from extinction by aliens I settled down with Andy and Ellie to enjoy some quite family togetherness while basking in the golden glow of a candle lit evening.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi EMM~~ Your timing: doomsday movie followed by terrifying explosion followed by blackout couldn't have been better fodder for an anxiety attack. :) Sans movie, my clan and I heard a similar explosion a few months ago when a FREAK and I mean freak storm blew in. The power didn't go out but high winds, torrential rain and ear-splitting thunder went on for quite awhile. One strike must have hit fairly close because the ensuing thunder sounded like an explosion. We had been having higher than average temps with little rain so of course the torrent was welcome. The rest of the package? Not so much.

Your home is beautiful.

Tootsie said...

we have had quite a few of those boomers this week too!!! lucky for me, the power hasn't gone out yet!

lynn'sgarden said...

Jackie, our house was actually struck by lightening and the previous owners installed rods on the roof..but what are the chances of it happenig again? great pictures from the glow of your candles.
Lynn

Darla said...

Great story, a candlelit home is so cozy isn't it?

Heather said...

Hi Jackie- that is too funny! I do the same things. It looks like I will need to stock up on candles if I am going to put on a light show like yours. I think it is fun when the power goes out, just wish the computer would still work.

admin said...

Summer thunderstorms are great, i like listening to the rain. Blackouts, not so much :)

Unknown said...

Great pictures Jackie, you have lots of candles. I get a little nervous during thunder storms - but kind of like them at the same time - does that even make sense? Our lights went out a couple of weeks ago and I've always known I have no 'built in compass' but thought I could make it to the candles. Found out I was heading off somewhere not even close. I keep one right close by now - it is sooooooooooooooo dark up here in the woods!!!

islandgardener said...

Your home is lovely, Jackie! I love candles at night, even if the power hasn't gone out! You are right about the awful noise a transformer makes when it goes out -- scary!

sweetbay said...

Your house looks lovely by candlelight.

Beegirl said...

Love all your candle light shots. So soft and warm. Amazing how we depend on the electric so much. Our power was out for eight days when Ike blew through. It was a looooong week!

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

We rarely think about lighting the candles for an evening and we should all do it more often.

What a nice treat - after you got over the big scare :)

Stacey said...

How neat! That's one way to turn a scary evening into something really fun.