The Gallerita!

Where Were You When The Lights Went Out?

Meredith and I were in Macy's. We were at the fine jewelry counter looking at some earrings. The lights dimmed somewhat and I asked the clerk, "does that happen often?" She said no. The lights went to normal and I said to Meredith, "Where were you when the lights went out?" A few seconds later that lights flickered off and on, then off. There was limited lighting from some of the counters so we were not plunged into total darkness. As long as we had some light we were going to continue our shopping. We walked up the escalator. Meredith found a really nice top that was on the 75% off rack and wanted to go try it on. It was at this point that the lights dimmed yet more. Someone came to our floor and said the power failure was throughtout the city. We did not believe that. Unfortunately, the personnel of Macy's intstructed us to leave the building. So we did. When we got to the street, we were met with crowds of people pouring out of the theatres and other businesses in Manhattan. The traffic lights were not working and all the cars were at a standstill. The sidewalks were so crowded that Meredith and I walked the streets. I had my camera with me and so I took some pictures. I even took a short moving picture that turned out ok. I am hoping to post it and the stills when I return home. My daughter is so smart. She insisted that we make a b-line for the ferry. I suggested we stop and have a drink and wait out the failure. She said no. So we rushed to the ferry. People were lined up for the buses in front of the ferry site. We got in the line for the ferry and made it on the first one that arrived. The ferry was very crowded (sro). I got some good pictures there and crossing the river to Weehawken. The phones were not working very well. I was able to get through to my daughter in Austin, Jennifer and my boss in Dallas. I had more luck with my phone than Meredith did with hers. She was thinking that it was because my phone is not based in the NYC area. I doubt that, buy who knows. By the time we got to the NJ side of the river, we had heard that the power failure was also affecting NJ. So, we walked to Meredith's house from the ferry, which included a trek up a set of stairs that are 200 in number and straight up. I had walked down them on Tuesday and I told Meredith that I never want to walk up them. Oh well! I got a really cute call from Danny. He was excited that indirectly he was a part of the 2003 blackout of the Northeast. He very well could have been more excited than we were. Deon was here tended to Sheeba. After a while we decided to go out and sit on the stoop. Most of the neighbors were out on their stoops as well. Peoole were washing cars, walking dogs and getting to know each other. It was great. The three of us decided to pile in Deon's car and try to find something to eat. We drove for a very long time. There were spots of areas that had electricity. We ended up eating at On The Border. The food and drink was good. We had fun. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the excitement that the blackout created. There is more to tell, but I will collect my thoughts and tell in another entry.