Tomorrow's date will mark five years since my wife and I huddled around a crank radio with a few neighbours on our porch, agreed not to open the freezer doors while we used up food from the fridge and I kept asking:
“Anyone want more yogurt? Please?”
That turned out to be a good plan after we learned from our immediate neighbour we could be in for a long haul since The Blackout affected such a large area the process of getting everyone back online would take days.
Ontario Hyrdo One’s Anne Creighton reported the following:
“We're checking our system to see what the impact is, but it looks like the majority of the province could be out.”
New York Governor George Pataki added:
"Well over half of the people of the state are without power." [CBC News Online]
It helped our mood that our neighbour brought a rare single malt whisky to contribute to our stock of dwindling drinks.
I grabbed more chairs, asked the growing crowd to squeeze in a little closer [we reached 12 guests and declared it an official ‘knee-knocking’ party by 10 p.m.] and brought out my own bottle of single malt.
Or was it two?
Warm conversations flowed, ice melted in more ways than one, a rare atmosphere developed, neighbours became friends and we realized we’d get through The Blackout by sharing advice, skills and supplies.
The beer, whisky and close quarters helped but The Blackout was the catalyst that provided a different flavour to our street.
And more.
Tomorrow - the final installment
[See below for Part 5]
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2 comments:
Amazing how hard times and hard liquor lubricate such alliances, isn't it? The trick is usually keeping those friendships going once the lights come back on.
Am enjoying the story...
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