Earth Hour

We observed Earth Hour the other evening. With a few minutes to spare I scrambled around the house, lit some candles and powered down the computer, turned off all the lights as well as many other electrical devices in the house. The children loved it, the whole idea of the candles, trying to get ready for bed, it was fun for them. They asked lots of questions and relayed lots of ideas. They were intrigued that that was how Laura and Mary Ingalls had to live, how they had to get ready for bed by candle light. It was nice to see their references.

What we didn't cover, was that there were no street lights casting a glow on the Ingall's cottage, and if Mary and Laura needed to go the bathroom before bed, it was outside!!!! The whole idea of getting an email to remind you to shut off your lights for one hour for the earth is so far from Mary and Laura that it is almost absurd.

But I have to say in the stillness of that hour, when everyone was off to bed, it was heavenly. So quiet and the glow from candles is just so warming and wonderful. I was slow to turn any lights back on when the hour was over. (I did have a small book light that I used read a Real Simple magazine). I mean what would Caroline have done. Again, a magazine celebrating the simple living is completely absurd in terms of the Ingalls. Can you just imagine what Charles would have said if he came home to find Caroline reading a magazine by candlelight. I am sure there were things to be done, dresses to be mended, dishes to be washed.

That evening Sam and I discussed how great it was and how much the children enjoyed it and how it opened up many discussions about the environment and how to be good citizen of planet Earth. We thought we should do it more often.

The next morning I was informed that we were not using the computer or any other electronic devices for the whole day, so I couldn't blog. Now one hour of candle light was delightful, but a whole day without internet, blogging, etsy, email, or even solitaire on the iPod, that was a chore. I know, I know, Caroline could easily show me a thing or two about what a chore really is, but I am not Caroline and this is not the turn of the last century.

I feel we are really fortunate for the time we live in, we have the ability to choose, we can live simple or all plugged in. And I think the important thing is finding that balance. I survived sunday with no internet etc, and I really enjoyed it, so much so we are thinking about scaling back for the month of April. No TV/Movies for sure.