Early last Saturday morning I awoke to an eerie and unnerving silence.

I began to sweat.

It took only a short while for the wife and I to realize that the unthinkable had happened – the power had gone out in our area on one of the hottest nights of the year!

Emergency planning began, always a great thing to do after the emergency has begun.

And that’s what it is these days when the power’s out and you’re in the midst of a record-setting heat wave.

A trip in the darkness to the local convenience store to fill the gas tank and stock up on a few bags of ice and we figured we were good to go, assuming the power company did its part and restored power soon.

The wife and I had things to do, so with air-conditioned cars we were okay – the only worry was the dogs.

We dumped huge chunks of ice into the dogs’ water bowls and headed out, promising each other to check back in later in the day to make sure the critters were okay. If power was still out, plan B would have to be initiated. After we figured out what plan B was!

In the end the fates were kind and the Dominion folks did their magic. I don’t think it ever got over 90 degrees in the house.

But it got me to thinking how dependent we all are on technology these days.

Growing up in the 1950s the way I remember it, the mercury hit 100 and no one got alarmed. Our house didn’t even have AC until I was about 10 years old—it just had a humongous fan with blades the size of the propeller on a WWII fighter plane.

I’d stand in front of that fan and let it dry off the sweat. It felt just great.

Of course back then it was okay to sweat. Folks slowed down when the temperature climbed and I remember seersucker suit-clad business men mopping their brows with handkerchiefs.

For a treat we kids would duck into the local drugstore, or the movie theater, where there was refrigerated air. In the evening families sat outside in the twilight watching the fireflies and the kids play until it was cool enough to go inside.

No one had to remind us to stay hydrated. When folks got thirsty, they drank something. Water, iced tea, lemonade.

Today things are different. Indeed, articles have been written about how air conditioning turned the South from a lazy backwater region to a thriving growth area.

It would never have happened without AC.

I’m hoping I don’t awaken to that eerie silence again too soon. Although I am working on a Rube Goldberg plan B.

I’ll just install ducting from the AC in our two cars into the house and run their engines all night.

Do you think it will work?

- Ken Odor is a staff writer for the Goochland Gazette