Friday 6 January 2012

Strange light

Yesterday, we woke up to no power; the storm had brought down many trees onto the powerlines and we were one of thousands of homes without electricity.

The Farmer rigged up the inverter and we could choose which electrical gadget should go on.

The children wanted the television on, I wanted a heater and The Farmer wanted coffee so we democratically decided to go out instead. It was pretty raw and cold yesterday so we all muffled up well. Rosie looked lovely in her new hat and scarf, our little boy could hardly move in his duffle and jumpers and I looked like a bag lady. The Farmer vanished into the big shed for the day.

The children and I had a good day out - sort of a busman's holiday as we went to one of those farms with a cafe, small pigs and overpriced Emma Bridgewater pottery. I worried as the children went dangerously close to the pottery, immune to sensation with all the layers of clothing on.

We went outside to fuss over the pigs but it was absolutely freezing so we returned home by the back roads.

A tree had fallen on the road and a team of men with powersaws were busy clearing it up. The driver of the car in front of me was an old friend I had not seen for years so hugs and news were had.

When we got home, the power was still off so we rootled about in the dark for things to eat. I set a huge fire but this house is cold at the best of times so we made nests from blankets and quilts in a futile attempt to keep warm.

Rosie spotted the strange light on the hill first. I thought it was a planet until it moved.

The neighbourly thing to have done was to muffle up, gather all the children together, climb the hill in pitch darkness and see if anyone was lost.
The common sense thought was that this was madness, we would fall in bogs, get lost and end up on the freezing hill all night.

I wonder if it was the shepherd although the light was right at the steep edge of the hill. I am going to phone him today and find out if it was him. It is too steep for a vehicle and the light was too big for a torch plus it did not waver like a torch would.

The light was static for about 10 minutes then vanished.




The double thingy is my hand shaking, partly from cold and partly as I had to expose the shutter for 7 seconds but it is an odd light.
It never appeared again all evening but the electricity did a little later on.

I would love to know what was on the hill last night.

2 comments:

  1. How very odd. Sorry to hear yours was one of the households without power. That's no fun at all in January, even without very cold weather. Hope you're now feeling a but warmer.

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  2. I hope you're warmer too, and I am now intrigued by what the light was. Was it the shepherd? Yesterday I saw an odd light out on my 6.30 am walk, the dogs went mad, and then we saw a man with a theodolyte in the middle of the field. Not entirely certain why you would be surveying anything in the pitch black, but far too petrified to ask.

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