.... on a dark and rainy night

A few weeks ago I was home visiting my mom and dad.  If you know me you will know that this is not an uncommon way that I enjoy spending many of my weekends but this weekend was different.  It was well into the evening when a massive storm hit.  The rain came down in buckets and the lighting put on a brilliant display; so much that the power went out.  Now my parent’s house is one of great age.  In fact, believe it or not it was built in 1876.  It is a lovely old country farm house and is set off the main road quite a bit.  Being a place that has many of the charms of an older home that one might delight in, I will confess that it is rather an eerie place to be when you are in complete darkness.  This is the setting for how the evening was about to unfold.

My mother and I mucked around looking for candles while my father clattered through the cloak room closet trying to find a flashlight.  It never fails that flashlights are never in their usual spots when the power goes.  Candles were found and the living room became alive with their warm glows.  It was like a page taken out of a 1900 century novel.  A dreary night, sans electricity and an evening awaiting some forms of entertainment.  Well what does one do without the staple items of today's technology?  After all how often are evenings spent anymore where modern technology does not come into play in one form or another?

The evening consisted of reading aloud Bram Stoker's The Judges House.  If you are not familiar with this short story I highly suggest picking it up.  It is by far one of the best ghost stories you will ever read.  After the story was finished and being even more unnerved we opted for something a little more lighthearted.  A deck of cards was brought out and a game of Gin was dealt.  It wasn't long into the card game that the power came back on.  I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.  Spending the evening in such a manner had turned into a refreshing escape.  Isn't it sad to think that it has to take something as extreme as losing power to have such a unique and lovely time, when all can simply be had on a regular basis by the flip of a switch?

With that being said.... I will be attempting to start some new habits.