The light flickered

then went out. A new bulb did nothing. Then I realised I'd lost electricity. The fuses worked. My neighbors also had lost electricity as did the town, the department and all of Southern France...over one million people in a wind that blew 180 miles and hour and killed 20 people by last count on France2.
A 180 KMH wind outside sounds a bit like a full-speed train in my apartment.
As a child in hurricanes or thunderstorms or during electricity losses, the family lit candles, played games and enjoyed it even as we hoped one of our 38 pines would choose not to hit the house as they swayed. One blackout my daughter and I toasted mashmallows in the candle flame.
I realised that by being alone it wasn't as much fun. Candle light is too dark to read and knit by when the pattern is complicated. However, as a writer I can use my own imagination to entertain myself.
I'd thought of going to one of the neighbours, but I knew without a doorbell and the way their homes are arranged they would not hear a knock even if the wind weren't screaming. So I hunkered down and and finally fell asleep grateful there were no bombs falling like in Gaza or this outage would be short lived not like in Baghdad which has had intermittent electricity since 2003 and feeling guilty that I am one of the lucky ones not to be trapped in those places. I also realised that of the 400 odd years this building has existed electricity has been in place only for the last 70 or so. Because I'm in the grenier, I also wondered if anyone had ever come up here, and laid among the straw to make love during a wind and if so who were they. Okay, I said I let my imagination amuse me.
The next morning the wind had passed, but the phone and internet didn't work.
Out on the street, I talked with Marcel, Pascal, Nathalie, Babette, Jean-Pierre, Nicolas and a couple of people stalking up on carrots, onions and other staples...the phones were not working, not even the natels worked although SMSs could be sent. Bizarre.
At night the electricity went out again. This time I used my natel's flashlight (apologizing for all the nasty things I ever said about cell phones) to make my way to a neighbours. Since she had gas we had a hasty candlelight dinner with wine and cheese, a good dessert and a lovely talk.
Today, everything seems to be working.
Touch wood, ignore wind.