The Blackout!

On Thursday, September 8, 2011, around three in the afternoon, all of California and Arizona experienced a major power outage, cutting electricity for hours, and creating chaos in many cities.

At the start of the power outage, I was at after-school band practice. We were lined up in one of our numerous, complicated field show formations for the piece "Fantasmic Part 1" from Disneyland's Fantasmic show. We had been slaving in the heat, struggling to play our music well and march with grace and precision since right after the school day ended. It was especially critical for us to do well that day, because the first home football game for Olympian High School would take place the day after, where we would perform the field show for the first time. Many of us prayed for the end of outside practice, longing for the cool, refreshing caress of the band room air conditioning. Sweat dripped in pearly beads down our faces, soaking our shirts and dampening our hair. Occasionally, some of us would glance at our watches or phones to check how much more time was left until indoor practice.

About halfway through practice, our band director, Mr. Mabrey, announced to us that he just got wind of the power outage. "Sorry!" he shrugged. "I guess we're gonna have to stay out here; there's no power for air conditioning inside anyway."

This announcement was reciprocated negatively, and a loud, exasperated groan sounded throughout the practice field in harmony that rivaled that of our music.

We finished our practice at five, as scheduled, and everyone trudged back to the band room tired, but eager to go home. While packing up - and much to everyone's dismay - we discovered that phone reception was terrible. Everyone feared they wouldn't be able to keep in touch with anyone, that they wouldn't be able to use the internet, and that they couldn't finish their homework. Most of all, I worried for the icecream in the freezer at home.

Everyone said their goodbyes, and I hopped into the car with my mom to head home. She was annoyed the whole way home because of bad phone signal, broken traffic lights, careless drivers, and the fact that my dad would have to stay at work. My dad is the IT (Information Techonology) man for the Padres, and would have to restore all the networks in Petco Park once the power returned. Basically, he was on call for work the whole day.

We returned home and, much to my delight, my Auntie Georgia and my new baby cousin Isabella were waiting in my abode; they had come to visit. My sisters and I played with them for a bit until I realized that I had to finish my homework before the sun went down. I rushed to finish my English vocabulary squares and found that without power, it was both easier and more difficult for me to finish my homework. It was easier in the way that I had no distractions, but more difficult because many of my homework resources are online and on my laptop - which was not charged. Sooner than I expected, the sun sank down and everything went dark. We lit candles around the house and me and my mom cooked dinner in the dark - a stew with a bunch of random veggies tossed into a soup with noodles, pan-fried gyoza, and spam with rice. My uncle came over to pick up my aunt and baby cousin, and they ate dinner with us. It was hilarious how my Uncle Carlo panicked over the event and acted as if it were an apocalypse. He refused to have the family sleep in their apartment flat, in fear that "ignorant people" would burn down the apartment building with their candles. They considered staying at our house (my little sisters and I urged them to stay) but they left to stay at my uncle's parents' house.

I went outside to check on our pet rabbit and water the plants, although it was already dark, and for the first time in a while, I could actually see stars in the sky. Like tiny holes cut in a behemoth black sheet of silk, letting celestial light shine through in small, bright pockets, they twinkled in above. I think it was in that moment that I really realized how much I loved blackouts. Ironically, there were still so many children playing outside, riding their scooters and bikes around our court and screaming so loud that I couldn't tell if they were having fun or being mauled by a bear.

Inside, the family sat around and talked for what seemed like hours. We were all really busy normally, so it was really nice and refreshing getting to really spend some quality time together, just sitting together and talking, without the regular background noises of the TV, the distraction of video games or internet, or texting and phonecalls.

There was nothing to do, so my sisters and I went upstairs and pretended to explore a dark cavern, while my 12-year-old sister and I searched for reception, holding our phones out at different, weird angles in various spots. We both were trying to call our best friends to ask them how they were - and if their icecream was okay as well.

It was also during this time that we found out that there was to be no more school the next day. Me and my sisters rejoyced, dancing around the house! It was then that I decided that I was actually going to get sleep for once, and for the first time in years, I slept at eight. I got around twelve hours of sleep - a huge difference compared to my normal two to five hours of sleep - and I woke up feeling like a god. Sadly, my dad did not wake up feeling like a god. He had to return to work around two in the morning when the power came back on and stayed there until five in the morning. Poor daddy.

The blackout really made me realize the impact of technology on our lives and just how dependent we living in a first-world country are on it. Electricity is essential for everyday living - we need it for cooking, food storage, temperature control, working from home, cleaning, opening the garage, and simply to SEE. But what was even more appalling was just how much panic was caused among my peers simply because they couldn't text or go onto Facebook. I understand that we need electricity for some of our basic needs, but if only electronics weren't so essential, and we weren't so obsessed with always needing to be connected with everyone through technology or entertaining ourselves, then it wouldn't be such an obstacle in family bonding nowadays, and people would definitely see more beauty in the natural world around them. Sometimes, we just need a break. Sometimes, I'd like to see the world in its simpler, more natural state like when I got to see the stars and really breathe that night. I really liked that blackout.