As I write this, it is dark. And itâs only getting darker.
In any other situation, Iâd go flip on a lamp to light up the room. I cannot do that today.
By the time you read this, power will most likely have been restored to my Prospect Heights home. But what I am referring to as Hurricane September rolled through our city on Friday, Sept. 5, knocking us into darkness.
Some 100,000 individuals in total are without power. Trees are down. People are picking up from the hurricane-like winds that seemed to come out of nowhere. I knew almost immediately we were going to lose power. As I was on the phone with Sun Day’s Chris La Pelusa, the storm picked up and my lights immediately started to flicker.
âOh man, Iâm going to lose power. I just know it.â
And as if some higher presence heard me, within a minute a tree had fallen onto a utility pole, cracking it clean in half, and slicing off power to our whole subdivision.
That was five hours ago (in my time). And our road to recovery looks to be a slow one.
Granted we have a generator, and both our freezer and fridge have power (as well as a power strip to charge âthe essentialsâ), itâs weird not having electricity to rely on. Itâs as though weâve been shot back to the 18th century, becoming what our settlers faced on an daily occurrence.
I never realized how much I relied on said electricity. Any room I walk into, I instinctively hit the light switch. My main modes of entertainment are gone, as the TV and radio do not work. Even as I write this, my laptop battery is dwindling into the single digits, so I will be losing this soon, too. I could charge it, but having a cell phone/fridge/freezer seem more crucial than access to a computer. Especially a computer without Internet.
Life seemed to stop when the power went off. I wasnât sure what to do with myself, at least initially. I have relied on the ease of electricity so much that suddenly Iâm forced into what will most likely be a multiple day âno powerâ situation.
Driving around to pick up gas for the generator and food to eat, my dad and I saw just how much damage the storm had caused. What once lit our way to Arlington Heights was in complete darkness. We couldnât tell a house from a school, a field from a subdivision. Life faded away.
My dad throws in a reference to the Will Smith vehicle âI Am Legend.â Here we are, on the search for food and fuel, while racing against the clock in an era of no power. Except weâre not trying to get home to avoid being chased by the Dark Seekers. Nothing is calling us home, except for a hungry mother.
It was strange to see a town so dark. It was even stranger to picture ourselves in a world where power did not exist. Once 5 oâclock essentially rolled around, we would have been done for the day. The sun had set and the darkness had settled.
You donât realize what you had until itâs gone. And then you start reminiscing what it was like when you had the ability to walk into a living room and pop a movie into your DVD player. And you realize how crazy you are for remembering that, because itâs not like that is some essential thing.
I hear construction crews working on the downed power lines. Hopefully this is a good sign, but until then, into darkness I go. Looking forward to coming out on a brighter, electricity-driven side.
