We had a power cut today. It happened as I was walking home from work. I hadn’t brought my camera with me (and I take my camera everywhere) because the weather was really awful on the way in and I thought, there’s no way I’ll be doing anything besides getting indoors very very quickly. But on the way home it was quite nice, and as I walked back all of the lights went out. All of them. The streetlamps, the lights in the windows; the stars were already hidden by the clouds. I was so annoyed that on this one occasion I hadn’t brought my camera.

I can’t remember the last time that we had a power cut. Apart from this one, of course. I’m not that old. Power cuts are pretty because the whole house - the whole street - becomes something totally different. Everything is lit by candlelight and it’s dim and flickery and magic; it smells different for the same reason; it sounds different because there’s no music, no television; all you can do is get out the board games and play Monopoly by candlelight. Well, it doesn’t sound much, does it? But it’s wonderful.

I think there should be a day of the year when everybody switches off their electricity and gets out the candles (and the Monopoly set) and has a power-free day. You could cook your dinner by firelight outside. If you wanted to make it into something meaningful, you could even give the money that you save to people who can’t afford anything so luxurious as electricity.

Go on, you know you want to.