Still life with lamp

Supper preparation ground to a halt when the power went off for a couple of hours. The gas hob was on but not the lights or oven.

I love it when this happens  because it means I can get out the candles and the old paraffin lamp with its incandescent mantle that would  crumble to dust if touched. I know the care and delicacy with which the lamp must be handled and lit, the slow process of the flame taking hold of the wick and igniting the mantle, the soft radiance of the glow and the warmth that spreads from it.

I also know that the electric power will come on again within a relatively short time (about two hours in the case) and the  oven will heat up to cook the pie. Not so, alas, elsewhere in the world.