THIS AND THAT: Power goes out, but the cooking goes on (2024)

Bad weather and power outages seem to bring people closer together.

Remember Ice Storm Pax from 2014 and how much of the city was darkened by a lengthy power outage? People reached out to one other for help where needed. With two fireplaces and a gas stove, we opened our house to daughters and their families and provided hot coffee for neighbors.

Others roamed the neighborhood with chain saws to help clear driveways and streets. And still others offered their cars as mobile phone recharging centers. It’s as if we acted like a community.

Too often when things go right, we tend to become insulated in our own little world. We close ourselves behind the four walls of homes and forget about others. It takes a disruption to the norm to bring us out of our shells and out of the comfort of our homes.

That happened on Monday when power went out in the neighborhood thanks to a tree that decided to fall on electrical lines. At around 4 p.m. the TV screen went black and the house became dark. Then the “whump, whump” sounds of a power disruption from down the street indicated something had happened.

A text from one neighbor, “Did you lose power?” The response, “Yes, and you?” The reply, “Yes.”

The outage was reported to Dominion Energy, and the wait began. Finally, at 1:11 a.m. lights, fans, AC units and refrigerators all came on. What happened in between showed that there is more to life than my little world. We can look outward.

I checked my smartphone and saw that there was a voicemail from an unrecognized number. It was a panicky call from a nearby neighbor. She was in the middle of cooking a chicken in the oven when power went out, and she was looking for someone with a gas oven to complete the job.

Cellphone message transcriptions can be funny. The words that came across said she had already checked with one person but they did not “have a gas onion” (instead of gas oven).

We do have a gas oven (maybe even a gas onion, I’ll have to check), so I called to let her know. Then I realized that our gas oven has a starter and a convection fan that both require electricity. My internal light bulb would have gone off, but since there was no electricity… Getting ready to hang up, I then said that we do have a gas grill.

Minutes later she came to the back gate with a roasting pan holding a half-baked chicken. Another 30-40 minutes should do, so I placed the foul on the grill that was already heating up. After the allotted time, and checking with the bird’s internal temperature, I put the meat back into the pan, put the lid on and took it to our neighbor.

I made no guarantees about the quality of what they were about to eat since that was the first time I cooked a whole chicken on the grill. I was given a half dozen ripe peaches and an offer of some of the chicken for our dinner. It was nice just to be able to help out someone.

The best reward, however, came in a text message an hour later: “Best chicken we have ever eaten. Thank you.”

I’m writing this not because I am the hero in the story. Far from it. I just offered what I had that someone else needed. The hero is the neighbor who sought out help. Too often we suffer in silence when there is a problem. It takes great courage to reach out for help. In most cases, people are willing to lend a hand (or a grill) when they can. They just need to be given the chance.

Everyone should have the mindset to ask others for assistance when we need it — even for small things. It gives others an opportunity to be a good neighbor.