It is like the East Coast and West Coast are dueling for “weirdest events” of the year. Hurricanes, rainstorms, earthquakes, blackouts. But I think the other coast is winning — the blackout was all drama and no harm.*

To think, how did we live without this utility less than 100 years ago?

When the lights switched off, I was at home blogging — getting some giveaway posts ready for the next few weeks (hint, hint). I looked at Dahlia, and said “let’s go to the park!”

I tweeted it too. I jumped in my car, thinking it was just my street and we needed to get out of the house anyway. I was greeted with a traffic mess. The radio was just fuzz. I checked Twitter and it hit me slowly that this was a bit bigger than a blown fuse. It took way too long to get to Lake Murray.

Phone service didn’t work so we just sat at the park and watched the puppy. It was peaceful. I did get an email from USD that my class was canceled. Sweet.

We paid $6 for two ice cream treats and a bottle of water — the concession dude at the park was stoked to be selling more than just fishing bait. Did I mention it was 100 degrees? Super hotness.

Dahlia appreciated the time at the lake. The husband’s office shut down so he came to join us.

When we got home, our neighbors were breaking out the grill, so we grilled peaches and chicken and made some mashed potatoes (there were from a thawed out dream dinner). We ate way better than we would have — especially if I had class.

To top it off, we jumped into our friend’s pool and swam in the moonlight. We talked deep talk about the existence of power. If the world has been around for thousands of years – how did we become so dependent on power in just the last 100. Do you think they ever had electricity anywhere? These are the things we pondered before sliding into our beds at 10:30.

It was so nice to have an electronic-free night, as I was falling asleep, I told husband “thanks for spending time with me tonight.”

Then bam, we woke up at 3 a.m. and the power was back. I still haven’t gone through and fixed all of the clocks. Meh, we’ll figure it out.

Also? I discovered that I can charge my iPhone via my laptop — even if my laptop isn’t plugged in. It was a victory moment because we needed to set an alarm and there was no power to do so.

Events like this always make me think about our preparedness. I freaked out after the earthquake on Easter last year and now we have a 45-day supply of food and tons of water. I figure after 45 days, I’m not going to want to camp anymore. The aliens can eat me then.

*I know there were traffic accidents and people had to work really hard to get the power back on. I appreciate that. But there was not widespread death and calamity. It was not a natural disaster.