So here's the short of it,
The electricity is back on in the circle tonight.


And here's the long.

Today electricity finally came to the rest of the circle. It's been nine very long days for our neighbors to be out of electricity. It makes me think about all the people all over the world who don't have electricity, and my  grandparents who didn't have electricity for most of their lives - even my parents who began life with well water, wood stoves, a warm morning heater and fireplaces to stay warm in the winter, and kerosene lamps and candles for light in the evening. We are sure lucky!

When I got home from work   today there was a small caravan of yellow electric trucks on the other side of the circle. I knew at once that they were from out of town because all of or Electric Power Board trucks are white.  When Sophie and I went out for our evening stroll, I noticed there was a University of Kentucky decal on two of the trucks, so I struck up a conversation with a couple of the men. It turns out they are from London, Kentucky!  That's where I lived for the last part of 3rd grade and 4th grade when my Dad first started working for Kentucky Utilities!  One of these guys lived near London, but the other one commuted from Jackson County to London for work. 

I told these fellows that I had lived in London for a year of my life when I was young. The guy on the left said "I bet that was the best year of your life!"  I sure got a chuckle out of that. They've been down here for days and they are working 16-18 hour days, staying at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.  They looked tired and I know they are ready to go home. Right now the trucks are gone, and it looks as though everyone on the circle has power now.


My thanks go out to all the men (and women) who came to us from all over the country to help get our town back up and running. I know it will take a very long time for the recovery to really get going in the areas that were hardest hit, but having the electric grid back up and running sure does make everything else easier to accomplish. Alan met a crew from Lafollette, a colleague saw a crew from Oklahoma, and everywhere I've driven for work this week, I've seen crews just working as hard as they can. It's good to know we have a system like this in place.

So tonight everyone on the circle will have to turn the lights out to go to bed.  That's a good thing.