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Power’s Out

Or so OC told me when I sat up in bed at 3:00 a.m. I didn’t really grasp the significance of those two words until I shut the bathroom door behind me and flipped the light switch. Oh! (Well, the switch worked, just not on the light!)

When next I woke it was 7 a.m. and the power was still out. I tried to call in sick to work, but the cell towers were also out — luckily OC’s cell (different provider) worked just fine. I called — only to be told there was no school and the whole island had been shut down. Eighteen power poles were down along Farrington Highway and the roads were closed.

I hung up the phone and returned to the bedroom to tell OC he could stop with the work clothes. Farrington Highway is the only route out of our corner of the island. If it’s closed, we’re staying home or swimming out.

We stayed home. We played cribbage all morning and enjoyed sandwiches — P.B. for OC, cheese for me — for breakfast. I beat OC two out of three games, then the power was restored, saving me from having to defend my wins. Farrington Highway has also been cleared for out bound traffic, but OC sees no point in making the 90 minute drive to spend 3 hours and drive 90 minutes home, so he’s working via phone and internet.

We are now back in our normal positions, each at one end of the couch with a laptop on our knees. OC is also wearing headphones and enjoying tunes — when he’s not talking to the room at large through his Bluetooth.

UPDATE:

We went down to the beach. With 8 foot waves we are NOT swimming out. We also drove up the coast to where the road is closed. There are three different stretches along the beach where the wind took the power poles out like a car blasting through a picket fence. HECo (Hawaii Electric Company) says, “If you don’t have power by night fall, you probably won’t have power tonight.” We called a couple of our friends in the power outage areas, but they’ve taken refuge on different parts of the island.

Makaha, at the very end of civilization is very lucky to have power. Our electricity supply does not come from the Nanakuli power plant — hooray — our power comes to us from the windward side up and over the mountain behind us. Meals will be served hot at our house tonight.

Quilly is the pseudonym of Charlene L. Amsden, who lives on The Big Island in Hawaii. When she is not hanging out with Amoeba, she is likely teaching or sewing. Or she could be cooking, taking photographs, or even writing. But if she's not doing any of that, she's probably on Facebook or tinkering with her blog.

12 Comments

  2. Weather, weather everywhere. We had snow today, which I love. It’s not enough to bother anyone who doesn’t like snow though. Maybe 2 or 2 and a half inches. Enough to be pretty, not enough to cause trouble. Perfect.

  3. Well that was kind of a nice “forced” break from the daily routine, huh. My kids absolutely love it when the power goes out here and they close down school. especially Nick, cause he hates school. Ana enjoys it but then she says she has to work all the harder when she gets back. I can’t see Nick working any harder, haha.

    Well are you ready for Christmas? huh……I thought i was getting a good start, and then I took a break and now I have to get rushing to get presents mailed in time for them to be where they are going by Christmas.

  7. Donna — OC has proclaimed me better. He said: “Your smart-mouth is back. You must be feeling better.”

    Brooke — safe, mostly well, and high and dry. We’re so high above the beach that the storm never fazed us. We slept through the whole thing then woke to find the island gone mad.

  11. I LOVE cribbage! I’m so glad you didn’t have to swim out… with your stuffy nose it might have been hard to … well… swimming isn’t the best idea! Just one question. When you are on one end of the couch and he on the other, both with laptops, do you text, msg, or email each other? OR do you still believe in that ANCIENT of ANCIENT form of communication… the spoken word? (WHAT?)

  12. Mumma — was and still is. I told OC, we need to start building an ark.

    Melli — exactly! I speak to OC and he looks up at me blankly and says, “What?” Then I repeat, but he’s already returned his attention to his computer and the answer I get is, “Uhmm …” The only time he hears me instantly and replies with immediate clarity is when I ask him about food, especially if I use the words, “Would you like ice cream?”

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