Took this 2 minute video at Wolfchase Sat. Was I right to be suspicious?--BenQQ
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(BenQQ posted 2.11.22)
Thursday 2.3.22 about 10:15 am
Internet connection was the first to blink off a few seconds before the house itself went dark. I was in the flow of a video edit project and knew it would take a little time to get back up to speed once power was restored.
Whenever power was restored, I knew by experience Comcast, now known as X-finity, would still be down so the video cut would have to be revived later.
So having gone through other long Memphis outages, I leaned back and waited. Maybe that miraculous power no more understood than the bulb in the ceiling fan, would stream back into the local community in a few minutes. As at least those of us who experienced the "outage" know, it didn't.
It was cold out and the ice storm about which we had all been forewarned had quickly gripped the city. The day before, I had gathered some provisions at one of the cities suppliers, Kroger. It wasn't that crowded when I was there.
I planned two things with the down time: first, I would read by camp light
RED-HANDED How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win by Peter Schweizer (review herein). Second, I began working up this idea piece based on notes about the power outage phenom that happens in Memphis every so often.
The streets emptied. Totally quiet as the trees sounded the crackles of ice accumulation like a warning. Even though we were all separate, everyone was in these moments experiencing the same thing: a weather event descending on all of us at once. Instead of them, it was us.
Along with everybody else, we watched darkness and ice creep over everything. Some people with completely electric homes suddenly find themselves without light, heat and hot water. Miserable.
Looking into the flames of the gas fireplace, I begin thinking that our modern tribes are too far removed from the capabilities of the Cro-magnon, Neanderthal or other newly discovered forbears to cope with absolute darkness.
But the primal fears remain—even among the locals who recreationaly fire guns at night in my area of town. Silence for a couple of really cold nights, but after the ice broke they were back at it, their shots traveling with brittle pops through thick cold air.
My photo/video studio is located adjacent to the house. Both studio and house are old structures and for that reason still have some gas connections. So at least, unlike I think most of my neighbors, I had hot water and a heat source.
BTW, Remember when in the late 70's, the utility companies in coordination from local government were all touting "Go Electric!"?
Never mind about the breakdowns simply from falling trees.
3:00 am
In and out of the edges of sleep in my hard office chair.
Observations: I thought my shoe on the floor was moving spookily by itself in the glow of the fireplace.
Lesson: I vow to install a gas generator that will feed electricity to at least living and work spaces. Plus I'll look into reconnecting the gas lines in other parts of the house in order to install gas heaters. (I learned from others you actually could not start a gas stove because modern ones have an electric starter.)
continued... 
