down to the waterfront because it was cooler down there than it was in my apartment without a fan. It was mid-August and hot. When the sun went down, people put lots of candles outside. So the walk back (just a few short blocks) was candlelit and very pretty. It felt almost magical. Local restaurants were giving out free food because they knew they were going to lose it. Most restaurants here probably don’t have generators because we rarely lose power here since we don’t have aboveground power lines.
Of course, initially, it was scary since it was so soon after 9/11. When I got back to my apartment building, the building was very dark. I remember feeling my way up the stairs and down the hall. My landlord has since installed hall lights that have backup batteries in case power is lost again. But we never did lose power again, not even during Superstorm Sandy.
