West County Observation #4

Having grown up in the country, I am fully aware that it is never completely dark outside in West County.  There are always street lights, store signs, stop lights, and more lit up any time the sun is set.  That is why it was so odd and unnerving this past Thursday when we lost power.  I happened to be working from home that day because the previous day, and when I work from home, I sit at our kitchen table and am facing a window that looks out to the west.  I saw the skies grow darker.  A cold front was moving in, and 10 minutes of heavy downpour was followed by very strong wind.  I could hear our house creaking and could see the trees in the neighboring yards bend and twist from its force.  About an hour after the rain, I noticed my computer was acting weird.  That's when I realized I didn't have an internet connection, and went into the office to investigate.  When I tried to turn on the light, it didn't work, and I realized we had no power.  When I left to pick up the kids about an hour after that, the skies were still lit by the sun. 

On the way home, I decided we'd go out to eat if we still had no power; there was no way this momma was going to make dinner in the dark (especially since Billy was out of town all week).  by the time I was nearing home after picking up the kids, the sun had set.  We drove past Plaza Frontenac, and it was completely black.  I must say that I am thankful for whatever power source continues to run the stoplights at major intersections when they have no power, because if it wasn't for that, I might have gone crazy.  We got into Kirkwood and saw a few stores with power, including a Pasta House Pronto, which is where we ended up eating.  Audrey expressed interest in tacos for dinner, so I was headed toward the Qdoba by West County Mall, but as soon as we passed into Des Peres, all power was off.  Everything except the stoplights on Manchester was dark.  The stretch of Manchester near the mall is always busy and never dark, so it created an eerie atmosphere.  When I realized there was no power at Qdoba, I decided to turn around and head back to the Pasta House.  However, turning around was a lot harder than I thought, because there was no light except my headlights.  I made probably a 15 point turn before I got back on Manchester headed in the opposite direction. 

When we finished dinner, our power was restored.  The well lit parking lots and store windows were all back to normal.  This experience did give me a deepened sense of how much I take for granted the amenities around us and took me back to my days in Bond County.  I am actually a little disappointed the power was on when we got home, because I wanted to show Audrey what it is like to use candlelight to do things around the house.  I guess I can always do that anyway, but it is much more likely when forced.