When the power went out, it connected us

I didn’t give the forecast much thought when it called for some scattered thunderstorms one recent Saturday afternoon. That’s what the forecast looks like in Wisconsin for much of the summer. I certainly wasn’t thinking about the possibility of losing our electricity. In fact, I hardly noticed that the sky was turning darker while mowing the lawn. But I did start paying attention as the winds picked up and the temperature plunged.

As I headed indoors, the hail started falling, the biggest pieces about the size of a quarter. Then the power went out. Goodbye internet. Goodbye WiFi. Goodbye TV. My plans to watch Saturday Night Baseball on Fox would be in jeopardy.

This wasn’t our first power outage, of course, but I can’t remember losing it in the middle of the day on the weekend with the whole family at home. We didn’t have any big plans. Chores were on the agenda, but losing power eliminated laundry. Dinner would be taken care of, at least. I announced that we’d bake frozen pizza on the grill, as soon as the rain let up.

Our first mission was predictable: We hunted for flashlights and lanterns. We called the power company and learned the outage was widespread. There was no time estimate for when power would be restored.

Gulp!

Gathered around the radio

Our family gravitated to the kitchen table, where we decided to play “Push,” one of our favorite card games. Playing a card or board game isn’t unusual for us, but it was unusual for us to stay at the table after finishing the game. We just kept chatting and finding other things to do because, with the daylight fading, the kitchen table had all the light. If you wanted to see, you had to stay put.

Our daughter whipped out a sketch pad and started drawing. Our son decided to join her and grabbed a pencil and paper, too. My wife began reading a book, and I pulled out the day’s newspaper (yes, the physical kind. We’re subscribers.). Meanwhile, I turned on our battery-powered AM/FM radio. The Milwaukee Brewers were playing, and my family knows I like to listen.

Usually, these games become background noise, and sometimes I’m the only one listening. But tonight was different because there was little else to occupy our attention. It also helped that the Brewers were in the midst of a 13-game winning streak. If they won tonight, they would set a team record.

With the whole family focused on the game, it reminded me of the old days when people gathered around their radio in the evening to be entertained. Back then, everyone often took part in the same form of entertainment. You didn’t have five people streaming five different shows on five different devices in five separate rooms.

‘Will the electricity come back on by morning?’

Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t want the electricity to go for much longer than it did that night. At about 9 p.m., our family decided to go on a drive to find out just how widespread this power outage was. As we drove around the block, it was strangely reassuring to see that indeed we were not alone in the dark.

Toward bedtime, our son asked, “Will the electricity come back on by the morning?” (Spoiler alert: The electricity came on at about midnight while we were sleeping.)

A bit of anxiety was building, but the mood was mostly celebratory. During this whole time, we continued to listen to the Brewer game, and we cheered as they sealed an extra-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds. They had done it. They set a team record with 14 straight wins. Now the Brewers just needed to find a way to win a World Series, and all would be OK in baseball land.

Our taste of ‘The Waltons’

Amidst this power outage, I realized it had created a special little moment. I don’t take many photos, but I wanted to document us at the kitchen table surrounded by lanterns and flashlights. A lack of electricity had brought our family closer together. It would be worth remembering.

Our kids and I sometimes like to watch reruns of a TV show called “The Waltons.” We like it, in part, because it offers a glimpse into what life was like during the late 1930s to the mid 1940s. It features episodes before and after electrification reached the Walton home. Our little outage reminded me of that show a bit.

I better understand why the family had so many shared experiences and why they constantly socialized with each other. Essentially, they had no choice. There were fewer technological distractions back then.

When there’s no electricity, fewer things can compete for your attention. It’s much easier to give your attention to each other when each other is all you have.