Sunday, May 2, 2010

Three Powerless Hours

Many of you old-time Quangsters are well aware that my son, eleven-year old Weston, does not like school.  This is not to say that he does not like learning because he will question me endlessly every "together moment" we have. [Please see sidebar item devoted specifically to this phenomenon.]

He wants to learn what he wants, when he wants.

Weston does some of his best learning on the computer. One night he sat for three hours using Google Earth to find all his favorite landmarks and monuments, such as Devil’s Tower, The Empire State Building, and the Eiffel Tower (which he tried to find in relation to the Louvre.) If I send him to multiplication sites online he can answer questions endlessly on his times tables. Give him those same questions on a piece of paper and he can’t breathe.

Although he’s never been much of a history buff, times are changing thanks to software such as Civ City Rome, Age of Mythology, and Age of Empires.  He and his friends are constantly asking me questions such as “Who was Pippin the Short?”  “Who was Edward Longshanks?” and “Does Hephaestus cheat on Aphrodite the way she does on him?”

Needless to say, many of his play dates with his friends revolve around learning history wasting time on his computer.

Friday afternoon, the power went out.

My husband got to come home from work early. Weston had a friend over playing and I was tending granddaughter Hoolie, while her mom worked.

Things were very quiet because none of our machines were humming. Computer Geek was playing “volleyball” with Hoolie using a red balloon. Weston and his friend, lacking a computer (ohmygoshno!) to play on, were downstairs in Weston’s room rocking on a battery-operated guitar.  Computer Geek mentioned casually, “What kids will find to do when there is no power.”  I thought, “Ohmygoshblogpost!”

Knowing that the odds of ever catching such a momentous few minutes on film ever again were pretty close to nil, I grabbed my trusty digital camera and documented their powerless journey.


Go for the spike!


Smoke on the Water...



Untangling kite string





A little after five o'clock, the power came back on. A few minutes later all three kids came back in. Computer Geek and I looked at each other and in an unspoken agreement decided not to tell them we were back online.  It didn't work. They smelled the electricity running through the walls and excitedly fired up the computer. Back to answering questions. "Who were better, the Greeks or the Egyptians?"

7 comments:

  1. I love these pics! The kite string is the best! Lack of power forces us to become inventive, how great. Sadly, whenever the power is out, it's so nice and homey I just want to sit back and watch a movie...gah! Can't do it! Also, just as a note to Weston's question, I have always thought heaven was like Narnia, because all the animals talk :P

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  2. juliegoose: It was hard to believe that they had the patience to sit there for quite a long time unraveling two sets of kite string. I know what you mean about wanting to watch a movie when the power is out. I have had times where I go to cook something and remember the power is out. That's when I say, "Oh! I'll just use the microwave," thinking I'm being all creative. Then I remember...

    Weston thinks heaven is like Pandora. You think heaven is like Narnia. I think heaven is like Cold Stone Creamery.

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  3. Hi Randi
    This made me think of pre-PC days and the kind of things we did to amuse ourselves as kids. If technology then was as it is today, I may never have experienced the simple joys of tad-poling,crabbing, scrumping, making tree swings or climbing over walls just for the thrill of dropping on the other side.

    Nice photos. Nice post.

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  4. Randi -

    Ok you are really going to think I am crazy when I say this, but some dogs really are "talkers". Ever watch the Youtube clip of the dog saying "I love you", "I want my Mama", or "I want it", well my last dog (same one in my FB profile) would growl something that sounded like Adam, she would growl Mama to my mom & Copper when her beagle boyfriend would come over. We never got beyond that, when she would "talk" most of the time it sounded like the Elvis mumble. I hope when I see her face to face again her growls will all get translated, my theory is she was being censored of things we are not yet ready to hear or understand.

    God Bless,
    Adam

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  5. Ken: You must tell me what scrumping is! After our powerless afternoon on Friday, and cemented by your comment, I have a notion to have one day a week be powerless day. Seriously. Those boys would never had said, "Let's go fly kites!" if the power was still on. It was fun to watch what they came up with next.

    Adam: I don't think that's crazy at all. It's been ages since I've had a dog, but I swear she could communicate with me sometimes. Whenever I was sick, she would spend the entire day cuddled by my side, as if to say, "I'm here if you need anything." While she wasn't a "speaker" like your dog, and others, were, she was great at communicating.

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  6. Randi -

    Yeah I miss having a "talker", the two dogs I have now are way too quiet, like they are up to something. You may not have know what Smokey wanted but you could tell her mood. When she would get all excited she would "Elvis mumble" & I'd grab her little face sideburns (Aussies have little facial sideburns which to me look diff than just regular fur) & say "Oooh Elvis...", she got a kick out of that.

    God Bless,
    Adam

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  7. My kids freak out if they power goes out. I think sometime away from the tech world is good for all of us. Creativity, conversation...all sorts of great things may blossom.

    Easy for me to say since I love getting on my laptop :)

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