This power outage has kind of reminded me of the early days of the pandemic. Events are canceled. We're not sure when the crisis will end. Based on the conversations I'm seeing on social media, some people are angry, looking for someone to blame, while others are pointing out the inherent dangers of power lines during a windstorm, reminding us of the Marshall Fire.
Driving in such darkness is unnerving. With no streetlights and no stoplights, it's easy to overlook an intersection where we should stop. I watched more than one car blast through a dark intersection last night. I'm grateful for modern headlights.
I'm also grateful for the City's water and wastewater workers. Our water is cold (on-demand electric water heater), but it's still flowing, and our drains still work.
Most of us can wait this out at home, huddling under blankets and depending on battery-powered devices. The downtown merchants aren't so fortunate. Most of them will say that they rely on December sales to carry them through the rest of the year, and an involuntary shut-down the weekend before Christmas is catastrophic. Whenever they're able to re-open—today, tomorrow, or Monday—I hope you can do some last-minute shopping, eat a meal, have a drink, see a play at Miners Alley or enjoy a comedy set at Gnarly's.
Have a nice Golden Colorado Saturday, and let's hope for the return of electric lighting to complement tomorrow's winter solstice.
