Blackout

We’re getting into the really busy time of the summer for me. So when you arrive at HamannEggs and there is no new posting, it’s not that I’m lazy. It’s because I’m battling the evil forces who stand between very wealthy people and their brand new sports cars.

Thankfully, I got to spend what will probably be my last weekend at home with the dudes. We played Star Wars. We watched Star Wars. We talked about Star Wars. We talked about talking about Star Wars.

And then it happened.

Blackout.

My boss just completed a huge masterpiece of a mansion two blocks away. It serves as a giant symbol of what you can achieve by wearing dark blue jeans and a blazer every day. Now, I’m not saying his house was the one that overloaded the Evanston power grid. But he does have that huge blinking neon sign on his roof that reads, “Subtlety!”

It also happened the minute Diana dared to leave her children for more than five minutes to go to the hardware store. I blame her.

Elijah had a grand mal conniption. His brain could not get round the fact that you need actual electricity to watch Star Wars on TV. I’m fairly sure Luca noticed that I had to feed him baby food by candlelight. But if he cared he allowed his screaming brother to do the talking for him.

We made it through the night with sporadic power, but when the guys woke up yesterday, we were still powerless. As Eli screamed, “I want to watch Star Wars!” I suggested we actually go outside and enjoy the morning. Eli asked if there was Star Wars outside. I said sure.

I packed the troop up and we headed to the park. The streets were largely deserted. Not having a working clock, I didn’t realize we were hitting the streets just five minutes after the zombies went to bed.

I sat on a shaded park bench with Luca and Grover and watched as Eli played as a normal child. Not once did the words “Darth” or “Skywalker” exit his lips. I thought, “Why can’t we do this every day? Why can’t we play outside rather than stare at Lucasfilm created imagination for hours and hours…”

Then I saw porch lights snap on all over the neighborhood. I screamed, “Star Wars is back on!” I grabbed Elijah under one arm, Luca under the other and began running home. Eli said, “What about Grover?” I shouted, ‘Leave him!”

We were safely back in our own air conditioning in minutes.