Sunday, July 8, 2012.
Noise And Bright Lights.
Last night at around ten, what my old aunt Una used to call an "electrical storm" got started. It would continue for twelve hours, its lightning bolts flashing from all directions and distances, some of them close to home and erupting in frightening booms. The dog Susie, who is frightened by even a distant rumble, found a place to hide so isolated inside the house that I had no idea where she was.
It finally ended in mid-morning. I sat down to get to work. And the power went out. A call to the co-op revealed that the damage was in a major feeder on the grid, and that they had no idea when their man-made electricity would return.
The laptop and me decamped for breakfast and a remote but powered place to work. An oddity of may part of the North Shore is that two power companies intertwine there. It's rare that the whole area is powerless. (It happened in Katrina, but that's the only time I remember in twenty years.)
So the Courtyard got its second visit from me in two days. Chef Gloria wasn't there today, so the scrambled eggs weren't as magical. But they made me feel at home, as I always have there since the hotel place opened in the mid-1990s. The place has free internet, allowing me to get some things done in case the outage lasts a long time.
In fact, it was already back when I arrived home three hours and a stop at the grocery store later. The sun even came out, a little. Taking a break from my desk, I went for a walk with the dog. Without Mary Ann's five or six walks a day, Suzie is a little stir-crazy. But we weren't a dozen steps down the road when we heard a slam of thunder. Coming from the west was another sky-wide black cloud. We were hit by the first raindrops before we could get back inside.
I made a salad with Sal & Judy's new (I think) Creole-Italian dressing. I think this is the house dressing at that restaurant, as well as at Impastato's. But it was a little different. What has to be done to put even such a spoilage-resistant (because of the vinegar) product as salad dressing always changes the flavor and texture.
