A BLACK night.

Yesterday afternoon all electricity to the island went out and that included the tower where the internet connection comes from. About 5:00 I decided that I was not going to be left alone downstairs. I went u_ to Annie's. They were about to begin cooking dinner and had invited a lovely young cou_le here on vacation. He is from the Lake Como area of Italy and she just over the border in Switzerland. We all had a glass of wine and talked some and then they left. Where they are staying they must negotiate a stee_ hill with more than 100 stairs - not in darkness. There were some lights on the other side of the canal (generators).

Shortly after, Luisa called and said that out her way it was black and scary. Tommy went and brought her over. Now our grou_ consisted of Annie, Tommy, Luisa, Monique, and me.

We sat and chatted in the candlelight - no dinner, but really feeling sorry for folks coming in on the ferry and getting hit with this unex_ectedly. A big bonus was that without so much light _ollution the stars were more visible and such a beautiful sight.

We then all retired to our res_ective slee_ing s_ots for the night.

I was slee_ing on the sofa and Luisa on the loveseat. I heard Monique leave her room and ti_toe through the living room and out the o_en door. I got u_ to see what was going on and it was so funny to see her almost running, one flashlight in back and one in front of her, in the _itch dark. I su_ _ose she went out to find a restaurant/store with a generator.

Around 1:00 a.m. the hydro came back on and I made my way to my unit.

We all go through _ower outages at home and it is annoying at best, but this seemed very different because my whole universe was black and totally disconnected from the rest of the world. It feels quite isolated here at the best of times because the ferry is so very unreliable and the little _lanes don't fly if the weather is too bad, so coming and going _lans must be flexible.

Another of the evening activities offered on the island and this one was FREE.

Today is another hot, sunny day and life goes on with the many little tasks that become big ones on such a tiny island reliant on the ferry.

Earlier, a _rivate boat tied u_ by me and I watched them take off some boxes and bags and a new mattress and box s_ring set. A truck showed u_ to take them to their new home. Isn't our life easy - Sears, The Bay, etc.

Just down the jetty another man in his Tilley hat had a wood container that had been delivered earlier and he had o_ened it and was un_acking items for the car ride to their new home.

And that is the kind of day it's been, Lloyd.