In addition to an enormous downpour last night, the wind through the valley was blowing hard and violent. Many branches broke off my Yucca trees and pine needles are everywhere. We had a power outage that lasted from about 7:15pm to well past 2:00am. When the lights went out, the kids had been watching TV. I pulled out a couple flashlights, then lit some candles in the dining room. We took turns telling each other that we weren't scared of the dark, and that we liked blackouts. To get their minds off the situation, I pulled out our basket of musical instruments (drums, shakers, sticks, tamborine, harmonicas) and we beat on things until they were tired enough to go to bed. We read books by candlelight, and then they drifted off to sleep with minor complaints about the lack of a nightlight.

My wife had been out with a friend, listening to some expert on the art of organizing the stuff in your home. When she came home at 10pm we decided there was nothing else to do but go to bed. So this is what people did before the invention of electricity.