So, how did you survive the six hour blackout last night?



Wait, I keep forgetting I live on the edge of the world and the rest of my Albuquerque readers like to refer to my neighborhood as "Phoenix East." When they're being kind. Which they're usually not.

Anyway, our neighborhood was hit with six hours of darkness, and by the time I got home, Adam was hot, miserable and cranky. We went out for dinner (though he nixed my idea of going to a movie), and then made a pass by Smiths for candles and ice.

We came home to an impromptu block party. Everyone was out, chatting and playing. The walking paths were jammed with families with strollers and dogs and small children on small bicycles. One of the guys down the street had a grill going, barbequing up the meat in his fridge, and women were holding sweating cans of Diet Coke and padding around in short-shorts and bare feet. But by the time we hustled in the ice and found the candlestick holders, the party had broken up and the street was deserted.

"That's kind of freaky," Adam said.

"Really freaky."

We went back inside and played Monopoly until the power came back on, a minute shy of ten. A cheer went up outside as the microwave beeped and the porch light flipped on. To celebrate, we ran the air conditioner until 3 a.m. Sinful.