October Reflections
October, what a year it's been.
Last October, I was vacationing in Sacramento, California. I was a guest for the wedding of two beautiful young people. They met years earlier while living in the Bahamas, forged a friendship that developed into love.
Sacramento is a lovely city, but very far away from the Bahamas. It took hours ( I think 3 or more) to arrive by airplane. It was okay, though. I was looking forward to seeing my friends become man and wife.
Flying to Sacramento was a long flight and getting to my final destination in Jamestown, even longer.Because I would be arriving at night, I opted to stay overnight in a motel near the airport. I left for my final destination Jamestown in the morning, taking a paid car service there.
Jamestown is a small tourist town and the residents were mostly friendly. I stood out there though, like a bright beacon . I stood out not only for being brightly dressed , but because of being the only person of color for miles. It would be days until I saw my Bahamian friends who also traveled to Sacramento for the wedding.
My friends wedding was great, but there was an air of uncertainty and danger. You see the wedding ceremony was during the California wildfires of 2019. These wildfires caused countless millions of damage, disruptions to countless lives. After the wedding ceremony, it was announced that the electrical power for the county would be turned off by 10pm. Electrical power outage? I was apprehensive, but I enjoyed my friends wedding, recording as much as I could on my tablet.
Everything went well and I made it safely to the bed and breakfast that I was staying. It wasn't until 2:30 am Sunday morning that the electricity went off in Jamestown. What a Sunday it was! The balmy breezes and sunny skies that made the days before so delightful, disappeared that Sunday morning. The sky grew dark and ominous and the temperature dropped. It went from approximately 75 F to about 40 F. I started to get anxious. Here I was , miles away from my family in the Bahamas and my friends in the other town left earlier that day. My anxiousness soon turned to fright. The electricity was off and my cell phone was losing power. And, I needed to be contacted by cellphone on Monday by the car service driver.
I had a dilemma as to what to do. Should I stay in Jamestown ? My cell phone battery was dying by the minute. Or, should I venture to charging station in a park miles away. There was no guarantee that I could even get accommodated at the charging station for service. I shed some tears and I prayed. I updated my sister in the Bahamas by SMS text as to my situation. I had to do something, but what? I listened to my intuition, I reasoned to myself. I decided to ride out this powerless, dark, cold day in Jamestown. I needed to stay near the bed and breakfast.
I took a cold stroll to the main street of Jamestown and looked for a nice hotel restaurant for warmth and a meal. Most of the restaurants I visited earlier in the week were all closed. It seemed that most of the restaurants on main street did not have an electrical generator. I came upon an open restaurant eventually and found a table. At first, I sat outside. But it was too cold. So, I went inside and sat at a table. While I was sitting and waiting for my order, I formulated a plan. I intended to stretch out my meal, eating as slow as possible. My plan was to give my cell phones time to charge. It worked! By the time I finished my meal, the batteries was almost fully charged.
October, 2019 was fraught with danger. But I made it! I relied on my God and clear reasoning to get me through that rough situation.
Recent Comments
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Sounds like you had a lot of help that day Denise. Jim