Earth Hour

[Carol]

"Carol" <justcarol67@> wrote:
> >
> > Did anyone celebrate Earth Hour and, if so, do you have any create ideas for how to spend an hour by yourself with the lights out (except for a candle and a flashlight) without going insane? (I assume it's okay to talk on the phone in the dark!)
> 
> Potioncat:
> What and when is Earth Hour?
> 
> The only thing I can think of, is to use an I-Pod or a battery powered radio to listen to music--or an MP3 player with a book downloaded. 
> 
> I don't have an IPod, but I do have a hand-crank powered emergency radio.

Carol responds:

Earth Hour was 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. last night (Saturday, March 28). The idea was for everyone to turn off their lights at that time so that, like New Year's Eve, it passed over the globe from one time zone to the next. You can find all sorts of stuff about it on You Tube (and, ostensibly, on Twitter, Facebook, My Space, and all those other virtual places that I never go). I don't know how much energy it really saved, if any, since many people didn't even know about it and, of course, security lights and street lights remained on. Anyone who turned off their lights and drove somewhere or watched TV in the dark more or less defeated the (symbolic) purpose.

I don't have an IPod, either. I ended up taking a short walk to look at the stars. Given that the security lights in my complex were still on (as were many apartment lights), the only constellations I could recognize were Orion and the Big Dipper. The crescent moon was oddly bright considering how little of it was lit. After that I went back inside, changed to my pajamas i and brushed my teeth in the semidarkness (light came in through the closed blinds and I used a battery-powered reading light in the bathroom). After that, I set a timer for the remaining time till 9:30 and read with the aid of a flashlight, feeling rather like Movie!Harry reading under the covers with the aid of his wand. (Somehow, "Lumos!" and a wand-shaped object like a pencil doesn't work for me. <grin>)

It was an interesting little miniadventure. Twice I accidentally turned on a light (an automatic reflex) and quickly switched it off again. I managed to live without electric lights, a TV, or my computer for an hour, but I didn't turn off the digital clocks or the digital modem to my computer with its tiny green lights, so it wasn't like a power outage. I knew that I *could* turn the lights on if I wanted to, and I wasn't in any danger or even discomfort. Of course, if I'd been *completely* in the dark without even a flashlight to read with, I don't know what I would have done. Sit in the dark and do exercises or sing or just think? Go to bed at 8:30? I was going to light candles, but I could only find one scented candle and two tea candles, and with the light coming in from the security lights, I didn't need them.

Carol, now thinking that she should have shut off the breakers to inconvenience herself more seriously