Power Failures Can’t Keep Us Down

The power went out again at around 9:30 last night. IP and I were in the middle of enjoying the cool air our air conditioning was beginning to provide to us – up until this point, we hadn’t really used it. When we moved in we purchased three window fans that we’ve been using in the living room, our bedroom, and in the guest bedroom where IP has his computer. The apartment had been kept cool by these three fans up until yesterday. The A/C is still doing it’s job cooling the apartment down – it’s on energy saver and hasn’t turned off once. The plus side is that the apartment is relatively comfortable and should continue to get cooler.

When the power went out, IP and I were in slight despair, conversation coming to a halt – our bedroom was a sauna and the cooling air outside wasn’t going to get in without the help of one of our window fans. After some time spent inside finishing up our latest bottles of beer in the dark, we decided to head outside to the cooler air. We definitely didn’t want to spend time inside of the apartment, and the retreating lightning show that we’d been watching prior to the power failure was still ongoing but at a safe distance away. Heading outside, we saw that some of our neighbors had occupied the benches in the courtyard, so we proceeded to take a walk around the neighborhood. Some neighboring buildings had power, some didn’t. After a quick assessment of our building to ascertain what types of A/C setups neighbors with our same apartment layout have (we are considering asking our landlord for a new A/C unit that he said he could provide), we settled down to drink beer (him) and Diet Coke (me) on the steps leading to our community’s play area.

The neighborhood was certainly a little bit more active than on a typical Saturday night. Many people were ducking out of their buildings, eager to get away from the ovens their apartments instantly became upon power failure. A roving band of kids went marching by, dragging along a cooler of beer. One kid demanded to know whether or not the cooler contained enough beer – if it didn’t, he wasn’t going one step forward. When they finished drinking after a mere half hour, they passed by our perch on the steps, one woman doing cartwheels as she went along. It sort of reminded me of the parade that the freaks would do in Carnivàle when they were entering a new town. Unfortunately for her, her cartwheels were less than stellar – I almost wanted to get up and show her how they’re done properly. “The judges won’t like that,” IP said in a somber tone, a smile twitching at his lips. I laughed aloud, glad to be outside where it was somewhat cool with cool company.

IP then lamented the fact that kids in front of us were all young and somewhat puny – “We should’ve gone over there to demand they fork over their beer.”

“You know, more and more I look at other people and say to myself: ‘I can totally kick his/her ass,’” I admitted. “Their asses were kickable.”

IP sighed. “Next time.”

After some time outside discussing the receding lightning storm, wondering when the power might come back, discussing The World Without Us, remembering the amount of times that lightning bugs would inhabit our respective parts of the world when we were kids, and generally kidding around, IP and I headed inside once more. The apartment was hot, the bedroom seemed worse. I’m sure that was magnified by the idea of having to sleep in that room, but there it was, looming over my head. I could feel myself tossing and turning already. As IP went around to light candles, the power suddenly came on; a brief celebration that involved snuffing out all candles was quickly silenced when the power went out again . . . then came back . . . then went out. We settled into our former positions on the couch, hot and a bit grouchy (well, that was me, IP was on a happy beer high). Just before midnight the power came on for good. Our bedroom fan set on high, we settled in for the night as the bedroom quickly cooled. At one point during the night, I pulled a blanket over me, happily chilly. Throughout the night I thought I would hear the fan turning off only to discover I was dreaming – paranoia induced by power loss!

However, it’s nights like these that I really bring into sharp focus why I love being with IP. At the risk of sounding all sappy, regardless of my grouchiness I wasn’t unhappy. It was nice to have a partner in crime as we snarked on those kids and contemplated stealing their beer. It was nice to slowly navigate our darkened stairwell together, up and down, coaxing each other to be careful, to find railings, to count stairs. It was nice to sit outside in the night, with the orange sky illuminating the night, waiting for IP to return with drinks. As I listened to the footsteps of other people traipsing about the night, I knew exactly when he was approaching by the sound of his footfall; it was familiar and totally comforting. The situation was sucky, but we banded together to make the best out of it.

The power being knocked out twice in the span of one week is not fun. Sitting outside with a drink and your best guy, rolling with the power punches? Priceless.