The Kids and the Crowds

Friday evening. A final ride up Route 12 from Sangerfield, and it's S-M-O-O-T-H all the way! We do a left-hand "zig" onto Park Place to check out the afternoon's paving; "zag" onto Madison Street and back out onto Sanger Avenue ---- just little bumps! Wonderful!

And then............


(Click to enlarge.)



.... with just as much excitement as every year for at least the last thirty-seven , the Kiddie Parade lead the crowd onto Firemen's Field at the opening of the Midway.

But at a few minutes past 7:00 P.M., just as I was preparing to post this addition to the blog, something totally unexpected happened: not only my computer but the entire village - EXCEPT for Firemen's Field and the Midway - went completely BLACK! (That they have their own power supply at Firemen's Field is a wonderful thing, otherwise there might have been some very nervous people swinging atop the Ferris Wheel or on other rides!) Foodking, CVS, Nice 'n Easy closed; stoplights in front of the Fire House and at the Junction of Routes 12 and 20 went dark. The explanation given was that a transformer in Bridgewater had exploded and first hopes for a return of electrical power sounded dire.

Attempts were made to read by candle-light; romantic thoughts of sitting on back porches and counting fireflies were dashed by swarms of hungry mosquitoes who got there first, and some people sat restlessly in humid darkness and listened to portable radios, hoping for baseball scores, or phoned friends and neighbors exclaiming over their lack of ingenuity and warning each other "Now don't open the refrigerator or freezer door: everything will keep a day or two!"

Well, it didn't have to. About two hours later, with blinkings of lights on every single piece of digital equipment in the house, the power came back on; fans whirred, refrigerator doors opened, internet access was restored, and the bit of drama ended.

How spoiled we are!

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