4/13 Frisco, TX

I didn’t go to work today. Not like I didn’t try. Traffic was a mess. It took me almost an hour to get less than a mile. It took me two hours to get back home. My wife was right about staying home. The little one had been fussing all night, and we had not had much sleep. I had hoped that by the time that I got home the power would be at least flickering on. Unfortunately the closed garage door told me that the power was still off.

I had scanned the radio while stuck in traffic and only heard brief snippets through static. I believe this is larger than just a local thing. A thought creeps into the back of my head as soon as I open the front door. I start by inventorying how much baby formula we have left, maybe a month maybe two. We have bottled water on hand but with us drinking it, it may not last that long. I glance in the chest freezer and the fridge, not long enough for much to escape. We have enough there to last us a little while. I pick up the propane tank and thank whoever that I filled it a week ago.

My wife, my son and I head back to the car, and just sit in the driveway draining the battery for the next 30 minutes just trying to hear anything. Other neighbors are outside chatting. A neighborhood that everyone keeps to themselves now is a highly social one for a lack of things to do.

The prickling on the back of my neck picks up again as I realize something, no planes are flying overhead, it’s almost too quiet at this point.