Earth Hour

I took part in this past year’s project, not because i wanted to make a statement about global warming, but because i wanted to see what it was like “back in the days” of my grandparents and great grandparents. What the heck would i do for a whole hour without my computer, phone, lights, stove, microwave, TV, etc.? Moments before the switch, i lit all my candles. But then realized – i have a lot of candles. My grandparents wouldn’t have lit that many. Candles may have been cheap – but so were the wages. The average salary in the 1910’s was $750 a year. That’s around $62 a month. My brain won’t even wrap around an amount that small. C’mon. We pay $4 for a Starbucks coffee. That’s twice what they made in a day. They would have had a fireplace – or wood stove. I have neither. So i allowed myself a few more candles. And then the hour came. I turned everything off. Even the heater. I did cheat a bit by brewing a hot cup of tea before the clock struck 8:30PM. I suppose i could have used a candle to heat up a cup of water but figured the hour would be over before it got hot so…


I sat. Drinking my tea. Quiet. Like i had not heard before in my own home except in the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t expect that. No hum of the computer. No music. Even the neighbors were quiet. I felt very self conscious of my own voice – like i was hearing it for the first time. It made me laugh. I laughed with my cat. She seemed to think the candles and quiet were just fine. I wandered room to room checking candles and straightening little messes i had ignored earlier in the day. I put the dishes away. Played with the cat. But as i puttered, i found myself humming. No song, just notes at random. I was smiling. And laughed again. I was singing not because the silence made me uncomfortable, but because i was happy. And so relaxed – melting like the candle wax. I had thought the absence of lights and things to do in the electronic world would send my mind into hyperdrive. But it hadn’t. I was amazingly tranquil and simply took in the scenery moment by moment. N-i-c-e. I was sitting on the living room floor when i spied the clock – 8:45. Only 15 minutes to go. Holy smokes! Where did the hour go? When 9:30 came, i left the lights off and let the candles burn. Good money couldn’t buy this sort of serenity. I happily poured myself into bed around 10:30 – the earliest i had been to bed since…? I was asleep in minutes. Happy Earth Serenity!

Note: I support scientific research on global warming – however – i am not a scientist and any comment i make will be just another uneducated opinion. I DO believe in taking care of our Earth – it is our only home – and support protecting Her precious beauty for All.