Finding ourselves in the dark

It's been three years now and what have we really learned? At 4:11 p.m. ET on Aug. 14, 2003, Ontario and a massive chunk of the northeastern U.S. was plunged into a darkness brought on by overconsumption. The electric grid was overwhelmed by excessive use and a plant in Ohio shut down, triggering a series of shutdowns in a cascading blackout that left 50 million people in the dark from New York to North Bay.

Many of you will remember the panic and confusion brought on by the sudden lack of electricity. I remember driving home from work with my co-worker and chuckling that someone at the radio station fell asleep at the switch because the airwaves went dead. Only when we tried to catch other station and all were down did we begin to wonder what was up. As we exited the highway and noticed the lack of stop lights and the abundance of people on the sidewalks looking bewildered did we realize that the problem was larger than the radio stations.

After running over to the local convenience store and grabbing a few bags of ice we repacked everything and then relished the fact that a natural gas stove and barbecue allowed us the luxury of not having to scramble around in our rapidly darkening home to find our campstove so we could feed our daughter, who was a wee baby at that point. I drove around with her in the air conditioned car and gave water to the many officers who were standing in for the many streetlights that had slacked off. It was during this mission that I noticed the city had undergone a transformation. Sure it was darker and quieter, but that was a minimal thing compared to the fallout of the blackout. Without the magical juice that fuels our lights and televisions we are also left without radio, internet and other diversions. People were wandering outside and sitting on their lawns talking with one another.

Neighbors who lived down the road who had never before been seen by the locals appeared, rubbing their eyes in adjustment to the outdoors. People were friendly and helpful, traffic (what little there was) was civil and organized and the world seemed a nicer place. Living up by the escarpment at the time, we walked to the edge and marveled at the sight of a city in darkness at sunset. As we all looked in wonder at a sky we ignore on a regular basis we also noticed something wonderful. Without the illumination of the excess light that we routinely pour into our skies, the stars' twinkling beauty could be seen clearly. Skies that we typically only see after a long trek into the wilderness sparkled beautifully above us, creating a delightful backdrop to the laughter and goodwill that could be heard rolling through the night air. All easily heard without the mindless droning of air conditioners muddying the night air. Neighbors shared their food, drink and companionship and for one brief shining (darkened?) moment all seemed right with the world.

For a moment I almost understood what it may have been like for the soldier in the world war who talked about the magically brief Christmas ceasefire and its effect on everyone. Soon enough the lights came back on and we burrowed back down into our little holes like gophers. Many neighbors we would never see again once the power was restored but the magic of that dark and quiet night will always be with me as a flash of hope for us all. I still stick to my statements of the past that we should shut down the grid for a day every year to try and recapture the magic of the night, but then again we seem to have a tendency to bugger up that which we plan so the effect may not be the same. We would be reminded of just how dependent we are to those little plates in the wall that pour forth their magical power, but we wouldn't likely be reminded of the outpouring of support from each other as we would be prepared for it and could tunnel in to our own little prepared holes. I'll just hope that the conservation lessons that haven't seemed to be learned in our area, where we broke electrical consumption records again this month, will result in another short term blowout. The millions of dollars that have been poured into the grid may not allow it but I can always hope......