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I was working as a long distance telephone operator for Pacific Bell Telephone Co.

When I awoke that morning I immediately noticed the eerily orange glow to the light, or lack thereof, coming into my bedroom through the window.  The air seemed still and there was an uncomfortable quiet or hush.

I shared an apartment with my older brother in the Meadow Apartment complex.  Our unit was somewhat toward the edge of the complex, yet still within the interior and therefore a bit sheltered.

I can remember wondering if the world was coming to an end...had there been a nuclear attack...was the Lord's return imminent?

At that time we still had power and my brother, who worked at a local bank, had not yet left for the office.  He told me what was happening, according to Chanel 17 news.  They were advising people to stay off the roads unless it was an emergency.

My best friend and co-worker lived in Lamont.  She and I were both scheduled to be at work early in the afternoon around 2:30 p.m.  I called her and she was preparing to go to the Lamond Sheriff's sub-station to talk to the deputies about what her chances were of successfully making it in to Bakersfield for her shift at work.

She called sometime later to say that they had advised her to stay off the roads.  She said it had been difficult just to maneuver through the sand dunes on the local roads to reach the sub-station.  She was somewhat terrified by the experience and vowed she would not attempt the drive all the way in to town.  I agreed with her and said I would be going in since in town it didn't appear to be as bad.

The drive to work that afternoon was like being on a sci-fi movie set.  There we virtually no cars on the roads and all business were dark and vacant.  The office was quite the opposite.  The switchboards were lit up like a giant Christmas tree.  Everyone was trying to call everyone.  And yet so many were without phone service.  It was a bit chaotic, and at the same time, calm.  Everyone was in disaster mode.  All supervisors were on the floor.  Some operators that had been scheduled to leave already had made the decision to work additional time to cover for those, like my friend, who could not navigate the roads to come in to work.

I have since moved across country and lived several lifetimes of events, but none will ever compare to what I experienced that December day in 1977.