You speak for me. On the central coast where I am, power came back around 11 pm last night. The space of not knowing what was happening for several hours was profoundly rich. Indeed, it was here that I felt in the body the connection to Gaza and to millions that live like this everyday. Deeply appreciate your 'bit dark' part. Indeed, it is from the deepest darkness that perhaps, as a species, we will finally learn to embody our shared humanity.
thanks for sharing your "powerless" story ('m finishing mine and posting tonight) - it really resonated with me. I have been through this in the US but if felt different here, in a place I think of as home but also where I still feel like a foreigner, though less and less. here's to being connected!
Lovely, I'm so glad the power came on sooner than later--it's all the unknowing that unnerves us.
We are on the path to moving to Portugal and were getting our fingerprints done at the local USPS when we read about the power outage. Added "Big Coleman lantern" to the To Take list.
I'm so glad you are safe and the power is back on. I watched this story unfold after seeing several days of intense solar activity. The geophysicist that I follow sent out a warning that earth could get hit by a geomagnetic storm, but he couldn't say where it would hit. Earth is in "solar maximum" right now, and the sun has some of the biggest sunspots we have ever seen. Of course, the blackout could have been caused by something else. I'm curious to see if they determine it was related to solar activity.
Growing up in Alaska, we got used to major outages. Obviously pre-smartphones, but we were cut off from everything. It is a bit of a helpless feeling, even as a kid.
Oddly enough, I'm writing this from SF today. I've actually been here for 3 weeks, and have one more week to go. Just haven't had energy to say much until now. Had some medical stuff done, which went well. Finally feeling myself again (in more ways than one).
Thanks for this. The last part didn't seem dark to me, though- the prospect of humanity recognizing our interconnectedness and allowing love and community to shape our lives is hopeful! Maybe unlikely, but you aren't alone in yearning for it. I can feel the hope of so many people in the midst of growing instability. Thanks for putting your piece of it out here 💛
Loved reading this LaDonna, I'm in Lisbon and got my light back at 9 at night. So much reflection and so much to be grateful for in the midst of it all, as you so rightfully pointed out. Sometimes we need to cut away all the noise to realize just how privileged we are, and just how precarious everything we depend on is.
Thank you for sharing your experience, LaDonna. I think about how precarious it all is quite often. I was in New York City in 2003 when the power went out for 24 hours and that was intense. House of cards indeed.
We were without full power in Queens for 2 weeks! In the middle of the summer, too. Luckily it was not too hot & humid. I don’t know how I’d do if that happened again. 20 years older and much less patient now.
Lack of electricity is really life altering. We went a week without power in Miami in, I believe, 2005 when Irma went through. Luckily we had a generator (purchased after we had been hit hard by Andrew in '92) and that at least powered the lights and refrigerator. But passing a week in the September Miami heat/humidity without a/c was brutal. This experience is gonna push me to get solar energy installed. I already had 2 quotes and got a 3rd today. Will decide this weekend. As an additional note on July 1 the VAT for solar panels/hardware/installation will go from 6% to 23%.
Solar is great. We have quite a lot of solar panels. When it’s sunny, 100% of our energy comes from solar. We also have batteries to store the excess solar power. But in this instance none of that made a difference.
Many of those kind of thoughts also entered my head too. It really is far more fragile than we acknowledge...Cause for some serious thinking and planning for the future. The cell thing freaks me out almost more than power, hardly anyone still has landlines and fewer have old phones that don't require power. Doesn't leave much room to the imagination as what happens when it starts to crumble to a house of cards ;-(
You speak for me. On the central coast where I am, power came back around 11 pm last night. The space of not knowing what was happening for several hours was profoundly rich. Indeed, it was here that I felt in the body the connection to Gaza and to millions that live like this everyday. Deeply appreciate your 'bit dark' part. Indeed, it is from the deepest darkness that perhaps, as a species, we will finally learn to embody our shared humanity.
thanks for sharing your "powerless" story ('m finishing mine and posting tonight) - it really resonated with me. I have been through this in the US but if felt different here, in a place I think of as home but also where I still feel like a foreigner, though less and less. here's to being connected!
Lovely, I'm so glad the power came on sooner than later--it's all the unknowing that unnerves us.
We are on the path to moving to Portugal and were getting our fingerprints done at the local USPS when we read about the power outage. Added "Big Coleman lantern" to the To Take list.
You can buy rechargeable battery powered lighting devices here. No need to add that to your items to bring.
Glad it was just a dry run or preview and everyone is safe. Good opportunity to test and refine the 72-hour kit the EU is promoting.
Absolutely. I’ve added a few items to the kit that weren’t on our original list!
i think you summed it up...'house of cards'. glad you all made it through unscathed.
I'm so glad you are safe and the power is back on. I watched this story unfold after seeing several days of intense solar activity. The geophysicist that I follow sent out a warning that earth could get hit by a geomagnetic storm, but he couldn't say where it would hit. Earth is in "solar maximum" right now, and the sun has some of the biggest sunspots we have ever seen. Of course, the blackout could have been caused by something else. I'm curious to see if they determine it was related to solar activity.
My vote is either solar flares or Russian hackers. Both are pretty powerful.
Growing up in Alaska, we got used to major outages. Obviously pre-smartphones, but we were cut off from everything. It is a bit of a helpless feeling, even as a kid.
Oddly enough, I'm writing this from SF today. I've actually been here for 3 weeks, and have one more week to go. Just haven't had energy to say much until now. Had some medical stuff done, which went well. Finally feeling myself again (in more ways than one).
The gratitude for our lives and inconveniences juxtaposed to those atrocities in Gaza was powerful. Thank you.
Thanks for this. The last part didn't seem dark to me, though- the prospect of humanity recognizing our interconnectedness and allowing love and community to shape our lives is hopeful! Maybe unlikely, but you aren't alone in yearning for it. I can feel the hope of so many people in the midst of growing instability. Thanks for putting your piece of it out here 💛
Loved reading this LaDonna, I'm in Lisbon and got my light back at 9 at night. So much reflection and so much to be grateful for in the midst of it all, as you so rightfully pointed out. Sometimes we need to cut away all the noise to realize just how privileged we are, and just how precarious everything we depend on is.
Obrigada, Maria. That means a lot.
Thank you for sharing your experience, LaDonna. I think about how precarious it all is quite often. I was in New York City in 2003 when the power went out for 24 hours and that was intense. House of cards indeed.
We were without full power in Queens for 2 weeks! In the middle of the summer, too. Luckily it was not too hot & humid. I don’t know how I’d do if that happened again. 20 years older and much less patient now.
Ditto! 2 weeks omg! We were living in Brooklyn and it was back the next day.
The lack of cell service and the disconnectedness was the most unnerving part for sure.
Lack of electricity is really life altering. We went a week without power in Miami in, I believe, 2005 when Irma went through. Luckily we had a generator (purchased after we had been hit hard by Andrew in '92) and that at least powered the lights and refrigerator. But passing a week in the September Miami heat/humidity without a/c was brutal. This experience is gonna push me to get solar energy installed. I already had 2 quotes and got a 3rd today. Will decide this weekend. As an additional note on July 1 the VAT for solar panels/hardware/installation will go from 6% to 23%.
Solar is great. We have quite a lot of solar panels. When it’s sunny, 100% of our energy comes from solar. We also have batteries to store the excess solar power. But in this instance none of that made a difference.
Wow, that increase seems counter-productive. I hope they change their minds about that.
Wow, thanks for the heads-up about the VAT!
Really weird. The entire country and adjoining. Has it been determined why?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/29/what-we-know-about-power-outage-in-spain-portugal
Thanks - hmmm. Bummer.
Many of those kind of thoughts also entered my head too. It really is far more fragile than we acknowledge...Cause for some serious thinking and planning for the future. The cell thing freaks me out almost more than power, hardly anyone still has landlines and fewer have old phones that don't require power. Doesn't leave much room to the imagination as what happens when it starts to crumble to a house of cards ;-(