electricity
I live in Southern California. We've just come out of a heat wave, and just as it ended, our power went off, leaving the household dark and quiet for a day and a half. This morning when I got up, I saw my alarm clock flashing, and after two evenings of no power, it was jarring.
Here's what it was like. When Debby and I got home from class around 9:30 wed. night, it looked like everyone had gone to bed early. My stepdaughter and son-in-law, their kids, the entire apartment next door, the college kids who just moved in on the other side of us...wait, the street lights are off too. "Honey, I think we have a power outage!" Going inside the house, we find a candle burning, and our son-in-law, who's just gotten the babies to sleep. Although there was considerable consternation about the outage, everyone gets sleepy really early.
The next night, the power is still off. The food in the refrigerator is gone, and the ice cream has melted onto the floor. We didn't think of that, now, did we? But the conversation in the house is very companionable. The quiet is wonderful. We go to bed and sleep.
This morning, the clocks are flashing, and when I flip switches, lights come on. It's blinding. It feels extravagant. I've gotten used to sunlight and candlelight.
Now, it's almost midnight, and the lights are on, and the TV is blaring. the fridge is empty, having been cleaned out this evening.
But you know, lights and tv's can be turned off.
Here's what it was like. When Debby and I got home from class around 9:30 wed. night, it looked like everyone had gone to bed early. My stepdaughter and son-in-law, their kids, the entire apartment next door, the college kids who just moved in on the other side of us...wait, the street lights are off too. "Honey, I think we have a power outage!" Going inside the house, we find a candle burning, and our son-in-law, who's just gotten the babies to sleep. Although there was considerable consternation about the outage, everyone gets sleepy really early.
The next night, the power is still off. The food in the refrigerator is gone, and the ice cream has melted onto the floor. We didn't think of that, now, did we? But the conversation in the house is very companionable. The quiet is wonderful. We go to bed and sleep.
This morning, the clocks are flashing, and when I flip switches, lights come on. It's blinding. It feels extravagant. I've gotten used to sunlight and candlelight.
Now, it's almost midnight, and the lights are on, and the TV is blaring. the fridge is empty, having been cleaned out this evening.
But you know, lights and tv's can be turned off.