What’s
that sound? We have all been awakened at
one time or another with the query in our minds if not on our lips. And this week already we have heard the
expression flow from our lips not once, but twice, and in very different
circumstances.
The
first one happened yesterday morning. We
were enjoying our morning coffee. Chris
was reading the newspaper. I had already
been working on the computer for quite some time. A pleasant morning. Until we heard it. Neither of us could place it at first. It was not an altogether unpleasant
sound. And it was unmistakably coming
from out in our front yard. Chris made
the first speculation as to its origin, and a quick reconnaissance mission
proved her correct. From the porch next
door a melody was wafting … from a little girl playing an accordion. Not at all what I expected.
The
second strange sound was not nearly so pleasing to the ears. It happened around 12:30 a.m. Yep.
About as early on a Sunday morning as is possible. I had just rolled over in bed and was
listening to the rain fall. Certainly a
pleasant sound, and it was doing its part to lull me back to sleep. But then … a loud boom cracked through the
night sky. It was not thunder. That I could tell right away. But what was it? The disconcerting thing was that it seemed to
have come from right outside our bedroom window. And the only thing out there is … our air
conditioner. I groaned, assuming some
power surge had caused the unit to blow out.
Great. Just what we needed, another
big expense. But then the unit slowly
and angrily kicked back on. Hmm.
I
lay awake, pondering this strange explosion.
Suddenly, it happened again … Boom.
This time my eyes were open, and I saw the flare of light that
accompanied the sound. Again, not
lightening unless it was hitting right outside our window. Chris woke up fully this time as well. I got out of bed to investigate, as if there
might actually be something I could do about it. And as I made my way into the office, another
flare, and other explosion. And this
time the electricity went out. I was up
anyway, so I grabbed a flashlight and went to the front door to see how
widespread this phenomenon was. Boom,
another one. And then as I started
across the street I saw a transformer on a pole behind our neighbor’s house
explode in a shower of sparks. And with
that, the other side of the street went dark as well. It didn’t take long for our neighbor to poke
her head out with a flashlight of her own.
We are all creatures of curiosity at heart. I told her it appeared that transformers were
apparently blowing all over the neighborhood, and we both returned to our
respective black holes for the duration of the outage. At Chris’ urging, I unplugged the computer. I also pulled the phone number of the power
company and dialed in to report the situation.
But before they even answered I heard the telltale signs of life
returning. The printer came on and
started its warmup run. The ovens made
their required warning beeps. The refrigerator
groaned back to life. I hung up the
phone and made my way back to bed, listening all the while for the one
appliance I was now concerned about. Nothing. I returned to bed, now wide awake, of course,
and continued to listen. Nothing. And I completed two crossword puzzles. Nothing.
But as I began work on the third, there it was. The air conditioner unit kicked to life
again. Cool air flowed from the vents
once again. And sleep overtook me.
Psalms
51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Father,
thank you for safety during the explosions and outage last night. Amen.
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