Earth Hour - Lights out

This letter to the Baytown Sun is so right-on, that I am posting it on my Blog:

Lights out

Being a good American and wanting to do the right thing I turned off my lights Saturday night per Earth Hour (they suggest turning them off for one hour to save the planet). I quickly found there was not that much to do without some kind of light and hastily found one candle. I thought I had many more but I guess I used them in various vigils these past few months. I have no idea where I stored my flashlights and figured the batteries were probably dead anyway.

Ten minutes into the self-imposed blackout I tripped over the dog while going to the restroom. The candle was great for vigils but produced almost no light. The candle fell to the floor and went out. Now it was really dark, and I suppose a lesser man would have flipped the light switch.

About this time the phone rang and while I knew where it was I had no idea where the dog was hanging out and laying in wait. I decided to answer the phone and by the time I found it and picked it up there was no one on the line.

Great. My knee still hurt from the fall and finally after 20 minutes or so gave up and turned on every light in the house, including the closets. I spent the next few minutes cleaning up the spilled candle wax and then tossed the candle in the trash. The dog was hiding from me and knew I was looking for her..

Next year I will not be so stupid and will ignore Earth Hour as I should have done this year. Sitting in the dark and looking through the window at my neighbor’s luminance is not my cup of tea. Maybe I should just plant a tree.

Don Sanders

Baytown