Life in the Dark

            

Imagine coming home and there are no lights. Did I forget to pay the electric bill? My goodness! I pick up the phone and pay my bill but the light bill lady says it will take up to two days to get my electricity back on.

I remember standing in line. Was it the phone bill that I paid?! Had the light bill not come in yet?! Did I overlook it?

So I go sit outside for a spell, to wait for nightfall before I head back into my hot apartment. The nun from downstairs greets me as she comes home from the hospital. Surprised to see me sitting outside, we get to talking. I laugh about my dilemna, but instead of laughing with me, she welcomes me into her home for the night. I tried to convince her that I would be alright in my apartment, but she insisted on my staying the night. Because I had to work the next day, I agreed.

The next morning, I looked a mess, because I didnt want to bother my neighbor by washing my hair before I went to bed. So what happens next? It's picture day! Oh, my goodness! And me with a bad hair day, a bad make up day, a bad body day! Fortunately, the camera survived and the photographer did the best he could do with the subject he had!!!!!!! Needless to say, I will not be buying those pictures!

When I came home, my electricity was back on. So I thought that would take care of things for awhile, but I was wrong. I got undressed and ate a sandwich. I could hear the rain, but I love the rain, so I didnt pay much attention until...there were no lights... again.

So I throw on a T-shirt and some pants and I head downstairs to pick up my mail, hoping the lights will be back on when I return. Still no lights. I go sit outside and the neighbors gather around me, all panicky because there are no lights in the complex, and they are upset because they have to miss their favorite TV novela. Even the nun watches that novela. How funny!

So further investigation proved that the block beside us and the blocks before us where the businesses are were also without lights. The nun gets in her car to go buy a flashlight, upset when she returns that the grocery store charged her over $6 for an item that was marked at $2.98. How can they cheat a nun?! If I had been there, I would have stood up for her.

It is hard for me to believe that none of my neighbors had candles in their apartment in case of an emergency like this. And me, well, I have a flashlight but no batteries. LOL...

You know, you walk into the store with batteries on your list, and yet, somehow, you manage to walk out of the store without the batteries! I figured I would go back another day to buy them, but this emergency caught me without batteries!

Why are batteries so expensive?! The main reason why I wanted to buy batteries was because I needed AAA for my small massager (no it is not a sexual toy! Stop being so pervy. LOL)  I use it to massage my tired feet and to help the circulation in my feet. I wish I had bought two, one for each foot! I may have to go back to Walgreens to buy that extra one. Believe it or not, it really helps!

The day I discovered I hadnt paid my light bill (the day before the blackout), I went for a doctor's visit. The doctor told me that my feet are swollen because I am retaining a lot of water. She said that it is partly because of my high blood pressure. I never knew that. I told her that I didnt think my thyroid medication is working because I am always hungry and I keep gaining weight, even as we speak, and that I feel so bloated all the time. She looked at my chart and said, "Yes, I can see that. You gained a whole pound since your last visit in March." (Ha! That was hard to believe!)  I guess I'm just fat and the water retention makes me feel even heavier than I am.

Anyways, before I interrupted myself with massagers and water retention, unlike my neighbors, I was pretty cool about the blackout, because the next day was Saturday. At least, I didnt have to worry about getting ready for work the next day. It also helped to know that I had already paid my light bill. 

It took about three hours for the lights to come back on. By that time, I was so tired, that I went straight to bed.

How can a person get so tired just by talking to the neighbors?! One of my neighbors is so lonely and so needy that she wears us all out. Even the nun tries to avoid her! Whenever she sees me, she gets all excited. She says I am kind.  Am I the only one who listens to her? Everybody scatters like mice when they see her. She doesnt work. She doesnt cook. She doesnt have much to clean except for dusting her tabletops and making her bed. I keep telling her that she needs to go volunteer at the hospital but she would rather spend her time doing nothing. I wonder what that would be like to just do nothing! I think I would be bored. I'm fortunate that I know how to entertain myself.

I was surprised that she went to the Beauty Shoppe to get her hair to look like mine. Why are people always trying to copy my hair?

 Oh Richard, where were you when I was stumbling in the dark?! With you, there would be no need to see the light of day!

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.  ~ Helen Keller

Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living. ~ Helen Keller