I'm in the middle of a rewriting frenzy -- I have a pile of things to get through before the end of the month, when my full-time job ceases to be writing and becomes looking for a job that pays. During these frenzies I tend to stay up later and later, and eventually my bedtime is 8:00 AM.

This was the case yesterday, when I learned that such behavior is only practical thanks to a little thing called electricity. I woke up at 3:00 PM and discovered we didn't have any.

No big deal, I thought. I'd fire up the laptop and get to work. The power should be back on by the time the battery ran out.

6:00 PM -- the battery was at 11%. The power was not back on, and the sun seemed really interested in going down. S moved most of our candles to the dining room table, in case we were in for a long haul. Fortunately we're both candle types, so we had plenty.

She went out to the deck to grade papers in the last of the sunlight. I grilled steak and zucchini, which I would have done anyway, even if we didn't have a useless electric stove. Still, hooray for propane and propane accessories.

So now it's almost midnight (also hooray for cellphones that show the time). S is still grading papers on the deck, now by the light of citronella candles. I'm at the dining room table, writing the longhand version of this entry.

I put a spare mirror behind the candles -- take that, MacGyver!

The house smells like lavender tangerine lime basil tea rose cinnamon warm vanilla sugar pear jasmine sea breeze sugar plum lemon verbena sage citrus mango. Which explains my headache. Well, that, and the eyestrain. In the last five candle-lit hours, I've done a longhand revision of a short story ("Mayfly", if that means anything to anyone) and 30 pages of edits to the novel.

Yep, that's a chunk of the novel and the inked up version of this entry

There's a work crew outside our house at this very moment -- turns out that mysterious grate I've been mowing around is the Gateway to the Magical Equipment that Keeps the Lights on.

The Gateway to the Magical Etc.

S went out to chat with them. Apparently something blew up. This could take a while.

S assisting the crew in an improvised hardhat that probably isn't the best choice for electrical work, but at least it keeps the government from reading her mind. Just before I took the picture S declared, "I need a tool!" then ran to their truck and pulled out a...broom. Never underestimate the significance of brooms when it comes to keeping the lights on.

Update: The power came back on around 10:00 AM today. I was sleeping.