Lowell Sun

Some Billerica residents are without power Thursday morning after a transformer blew on Boston Road (Route 3A) in front of Town Hall at about 7 a.m., according to police.
National Grid’s online power outage map shows about 365 households/businesses near the town center are affected. The neighborhood that lost electricity includes both sides of Boston Road, from east of the Concord River to Pond Street.

The only thing inconvenient about a power outage in Billerica is when it doesn’t happen on a weekend. The Billericans celebrate a frontier style existence, and a power outage is merely an opportunity to celebrate that heritage without judgement from outsiders like myself.

lt doesn’t matter if somebody is nuking a bag of popcorn in the other room, the moment the lights flicker, it’s on. Guys hunker down in their front yard tree blinds, fan-boat traffic on the Concord quadruples, and everything with fur and a pulse heads for their burrows.

And make no mistake about it, this post comes from a place of respect. When doomsday hits and all you judgmental city slickers are waiting in line at Outdoor World trying to buy the last of the Swiss Army Knives, I will be fireside with my Billerican brethren, sharing steaming bowls of vermin stew and tales of the day’s hunt.