The Night That The Lights Went Out In Tucson

A Windstorm, a Blackout, and the Kind of Connection We All Crave

Hi Hi Hi Hello!

Random writing about what happened last night.

Last night we had a crazy ass wind and dust storm come through. As I was sitting outside having a cigarette and watching and listening to the wind my mind immediately went to Twister, the original movie.

I watched as a cone of swirling dust formed right by my RV. I was on the other side of yard from where my RV is parked so I had a great view. The dust cone was so dense that you could not see through it.

At that moment my phone started beeping loudly with an emergency alert. It said there was a high warning for a severe dust storm and extremely high winds. Be ready for a sudden drop in visibility.

Obviously, this wasn’t as intense or life threatening as Twister, but it was some excitement. I did head over to my RV and batten down the hatches, so to speak. Making sure things were secured so they wouldn’t blow away.

Then I went into the house where my parents and sister were, and BOOM! The power went out. There was flash, the power flickered hard and then, it just went out. This was about 730PM and it was still 102 degrees outside.

So I went into Honey, my RV and grabbed my battery operated lantern and portable camping fan with light and mister which, thankfully, was fully charged. I took it into the house and set it all up in the living room.

My mom, dad, sister and I sat down in the living room along with the cats and dog. Bathed in the light from the lantern on one side of the room and the fan with light on the other, we just talked. No phones, no internet, no tv, just us humans and our animals hanging out together.

It was magical and peaceful and so lovely. We didn’t talk anything too heavy but more than superficial talk. We had a range of topics going. It was so cool. Yes we periodically checked to see if the power company was working on our outage, but that was it.

The power outage lasted 2 hours and we sat there being present with each other and ourselves for that time. And I remember thinking, maybe the power should go out more often.

Looking back on it now, the next day, I realize how important it is to step away from our wired world and focus on true connection. We are so used to having our phones, our tv’s, our power, that we tend to miss some of the most magical things in our lives. Each other.

I’m going to work like hell to remember this experience and push for more human connection away from technology time with the people I choose to surrounded myself with. I know it’s worth it.

Because connection doesn’t need anything fancy. It doesn’t require a perfect moment or even a plan. It just needs presence. And last night, that dusty, chaotic storm gifted us something that’s getting harder and harder to come by: uninterrupted time with the people we love.

The power outage became this beautiful metaphor for life. Sometimes things have to flicker and shut down in order to reset us. To pull us out of the autopilot. To remind us that real connection is quiet, soft, and human, not pixelated.

It’s easy to forget that when we’re caught up in doing, scrolling, reacting. But when everything else gets stripped away, what’s left is what really matters. And that’s the kind of energy I want to invite into my life more often.

So maybe the lesson here is this: every storm has the potential to blow in some unexpected beauty. You just have to be willing to unplug long enough to notice it.

Remember You Are Worthy and You Are Loved!

Cheryl