So my mom picks me up from the Framingham commuter rail station this evening to bring me home for Thanksgiving. We're about fifteen minutes from home when her cell phone rings: it's my stepdad, telling us the power is out. Throughout the neighborhood. When we get nearer we get to see the extent of the outage -- blocks and blocks of dark houses. Joy. So we go home, meet up with everyone else, go out to dinner. Get back, two hours later, the power is still out, but only on our street. Call the power company -- they meant to have it back between seven and seven-thirty. It is 7:29. We light the gas burners with matches and drink tea, and then start making the Thanksgiving food than can be a.) made ahead of time and b.) made without electricity. That is, we boil and peel yams and I make all the parts of an apple pie without mixing them together. The oven can't be lit manually safely, so we can't cook the pies. The power's back now, but definitely today was one of the worst half-dozen days of the year to lose power. Yuck. I have to go finish pie-ing in a second, but first, ( sibling thoughts. )