We live out in the country, and our electricity has been going off fairly frequently lately. Usually, it’s because some drunk went off the road and hit a light pole, and the lights come back on after a half hour or so and it’s useless and even rude to phone Public Service about it. (I place it in the category of those people who phone the radio station to see if there’s school on a snowy day, instead of just turning on the thing and LISTENING like normal people do.) (Hub used to work at a radio station when we were first married, and it was hell trying to DJ on a snowy day. He would make the school announcements every three or four minutes, and STILL people were phoning like mad with the same question he was answering constantly on the air. What’s the deal with those people anyway? Are they nuts?) But I digress.

Last night in the middle of Hub’s intense MarrowWind game and my even more important blog-reading, our power went off again. We lit candles (the living room looked like we were having a seance in it) and waited. And waited. Waited some more.

After two hours, Zappa went out on the porch to see if there were any lights down the road. There were.

After three hours, Hub called Public Service. They knew nothing about the outage.

Or, rather, OUR outage. A transformer had blown and our house, and the house closest to us, were out, and nobody else.

In less than an hour, a huge really cool truck, lit like a Christmas tree, pulled into our driveway, locked its brakes by the light pole, and the Public Service guy rose into the air like a dinosaur reaching for a high limb, and he worked his magic on the wires and yea, there was light.

And computer power, which is the main thing as far as I’m concerned.

If we had called Public Service right away, they could have told us it was just us and not the whole road, and we would have had power within the hour.

Next time, I’m calling the radio station to see if we’re having a snow day the power company right away. The lights you save could be your own.

And speaking of the light pole. . . .

I made this really great Light Polish Vegetable Soup last night (before the power went off). Hub and Zappa are eating it like gangbusters. It was really easy, too.

Take a can of tomato juice and pour it into a big pot. Throw in all the tag ends of leftover vegetables you’ve been saving in the freezer and refrigerator. (I had corn, green beans, and black beans) Cut up a few potatoes and carrots. Throw in some cabbage and celery. Slice a couple of onions. Cut up a Polish sausage. Sprinkle some paprika in there, and some Tabasco and some pepper. Let it simmer till everything’s softer. Serve with grilled cheese and dill pickles.

Well, it worked for my men last night.

And if this recipe is ‘light,’ what in the world is in the regular one? Holy cow.