Photo Corners headlinesarchivemikepasini.com
A S C R A P B O O K O F S O L U T I O N S F O R T H E P H O T O G R A P H E R
Enhancing the enjoyment of taking pictures with news that matters, features that entertain and images that delight. Published frequently.
A Dark and Stormy Night
5 January 2023
We had just chopped the Romaine into slivers for our chopped blue cheese salad with olive oil and lemon juice when the lights, which had been flickering, went dark with a sort of finality that could not be mistaken.*
Candlelight Supper. A brandy after dinner.
We lit a tall candle and finished the salad, salting the Romaine, adding the crumbled blue cheese and the dressing. When we got that to the table, we returned to the kitchen to cook dinner.
Wednesdays are filet mignon nights. Very small ones. With some frozen gnocchi that takes about as long to warm up on the stove as to cook the meat.
Fortunately we have a gas stove. It wouldn't ignite but we long ago learned how to light a gas stove with a match. Carefully.
With our trusty candle to guide us and the battery-operated kitchen wall clock to time the steaks at four minutes a side, we managed to make dinner for the two of us in the middle of a power failure that would last several hours.
By the time we sat down to eat, we had two candles going. We were not going to be outdone by Hyacinth Bucket's famed candlelight suppers in the British comedy series Keeping Up Appearances. Sadly, it wasn't too dark to avoid washing the dishes.
But after cleaning up, we brought out the old oil lamps we keep for prolonged blackouts. We had to fill them with lamp oil, which we had tucked away from before Amazon was a thought in anyone's head. They came right to life with another match touched to their wicks.
The place was blazing with light then. Our neighbors probably wondered if we didn't have a generator.
But no, just a little old fashioned persistence in the face of darkness.