The Blackout

Notes From Granada

Balcony, Albaicin .

People have asked me how I experienced the blackout yesterday.

“I loved it,” I say. “I love blackouts.”

I then explain that I don’t mean to be glib about the dangers and discomforts many endured, only to say that my biological being comes to life when the electric grids go down, as they did yesterday across all of Spain.

I took this photo on my balcony last night (no filters) and as I sat and looked at the darkening sky, soon to fill with bright sparkling stars like we never normally see, and soon after felt a joy so profound and unfamiliar, I could not bring myself to move. I sat like that for well over an hour, genuinely ecstatic—that lost emotion I have been questing for so many years.

I stole one last look at the sparkling, clear, star studded night sky before I went to bed, and it occurred to me this was the same sky as the one our mother took us to Tunisia, twice, in the early 80s, to behold. We slept in the Sahara desert under the stars—this was the goal and aspiration, as my mother explained to us.

That same sky. (I could get to Morocco and back without even needing a cat sitter, that’s how close we are here in Granada.)

I slept for 10 hours. The power went off around noon yesterday and returned some time toward dawn. I was “relieved,” and also a little mournful, in this selfish way, for how my body thrives outside of electricity. It’s a night and day difference.

Maybe you only really live in a city once you’ve experienced your first blackout in that city. Granada did not disappoint, as I would have expected, had I considered that this might happen: I went out around 12:30, and walked the streets, and saw nothing but perfectly calm people, no panic anywhere. Cars and buses negotiated traffic lights, and most charmingly, people sat in cafes, restaurants and bars with no lights, ordered whatever was on offer, and acted exactly as though it were any other day.

I did the same—went to a Moroccan place I like near La Catedral, and had hummus and beer.

Only cash was accepted, and luckily, I had some.

I went to visit my friend Roman, who owns a candy store, and he was doing really well. He said people bought a lot of candy, ice cream, and soda, to comfort themselves, especially tourists. A whole bus load of Japanese tourists came in, for example. While I was there, an English speaking couple came in and Roman was able to give them cash against a credit card number, so they could go buy something to eat.

I made three new friends yesterday, including that couple. It’s hard to make friends here, honestly. I need more friends, but will stop short of saying they should have another blackout.

(Yes, of course I know it’s planned, it’s by design, and I know by whom, and deep down, yes, it’s very alarming.)

Still, I love life without electricity.

I met an American named Scott who was looking for food, and I helped him find a place that was still making shish kebab on open flames.

(None of this is about the big picture, but my next post will be. This is just about my own pleasant experience.)

I’m out of time right now, with a lot more to say.

I made this walking video yesterday—excuse the factual error in the beginning. It was not “all of France.” I think only Spain and Portugal experiences total power outages in the entire country.

My daughter in law texted perhaps the most salient fact of all—I got the text today. She wrote:

”We were listening to the radio yesterday. I kind of knew that but they said this was completely unprecedented, never before has happened this in Spain.”

We’ll pick up on this in a future post. Tom is in Malaga, and also had some very interesting observations and conversations.

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