Power Outage

So, today I was just sitting at home in my own little world, just minding my own business, and completely oblivious to the outside world. Then I got a call from the school nurse that Emily is sick and needs to be picked up from school. Perfect timing, I thought, because I had just laid Katie down for a nap, but she had not fallen asleep yet.

So, out into the world we go to get Emily from school. At first, everything seemed just fine - completely normal. And then I come to an intersection and the lights are out. Not much of a problem, though, because it was a small intersection and it seemed that everyone was smart enough to treat it as a four-way stop (as required by law), except for the idiot behind me who almost slammed into me when I stopped.

But then the lights were out at the next intersection, and then next, and the next, and on and on for a couple of miles. Then I knew something was wrong, but I still thought it was maybe just a local problem, especially since on my return trip, half of the lights that had been out before were already back on.

Of course, when I got home and checked my email, there was a CNN alert that there was a major power outage in Florida. Then I read this article about the issue. I couldn't believe what a huge problem it was. And I was even more shocked that such a widespread problem, that reached into my area, managed to leave me completely unscathed. Had it not been for my trip to pick Emily up from school, I might not have had a clue about it.