I love that stuff, electricity. I really do! I do not fully understand it, but hey, if it just keeps on coming to my house, I am ecstatic!
Well here is the thing: if you have something abundantly, lack not, you can trust it is always there, you do not really appreciate it. Do not feel hurt now, but it is true: how many times did you thank God for electricity during the last year? How many Christmas cards have you sent to your local electric company? In how many "Thank You" speeches do people actually mention the nice guys in the electric companies who keep their lights on and houses heated so that they can study and work and achieve great things? I thought so.
Once upon a time, the time b.c. (before children) we spent a summer in the middle of nowhere. There was no electricity except in the evenings when they turned the generator on for the lights. The generator was turned off 10 pm. So, everything you do, you do without the glorious wonder-spark that comes from the wall. There was no refrigeration. We cooked on gas, and if the food was going to be spoiled in the room temperatures, it got spoiled. We did our laundry by hand. The laundry was a project that included getting the ice cold mountain water from the well by man-power, up the stairs, onto the diesel stove, and then we hand washed the clothes. It was too much to heat the rinsing water, so we rinsed the clothes in the ice cold mountain water, squeezed it dry by hand (not very effective), and hung it on the lines to dry.
I washed my hair twice a week. At least I found my limit. I could not go for a week without washing my hair, but I could go for 3-4 days. Getting the bath water was a similar project to the laundry day. We cleaned the rooms by simple brooms and wiped the floors with rags. If we were out and about in the evenings, we had oil lanterns for light with us.
After those months we visited the US. Talk about a culture shock. We went to a country fair, and saw a book by Amish people called 'How to Live Without Electricity'. I looked at the book and asked aloud 'Why?'. Yes, why live without electricity if you don't have to? We did not buy the book.
I feel about saving electricity and I am pro-creation, protecting nature and recycling and stuff. But I am so so so thankful for electricity. It is great stuff.
Now here is the thing. Slowly, slowly, our electric company here has been weaning us from this gift. It really started about a month ago. I am so thankful that we had electricity during the winter. Yes, there were cuts, and it was never 24/7, but at least it was several hours a day, and on for most nights. But now. They started by giving us electricity for few hours in the mornings, and few hours in the evenings. About 5 am until 9am. Then, slowly slowly only until 8.30. Next day till 8 am. Guess what? Now we do not have ANY electricity in the mornings unless you count this ridiculous time from 3 am-5am. Yes, it will heat the water, but I am so not going to get up at 3 am to do laundry and vacuum and iron and bake and watch TV (I do not watch TV but I could, if I had electricity)!
So when the evening arrives, I am on pins and needles and just looking at the clock. Soon, it will be 6 pm. I have my laundry sorted and my washing machine ready. I have taken the vacuum out. The kettle is ready to go. I have made the batter and the cake is just waiting to be put into the oven. The heaters are on.
One night it was already 6.20 pm. Honestly, I was getting mad concerned. My husband said that it could be 6.40 before the electricity comes and I just did not want to believe it. And? It was 6.40 before the lights came on and the humming started in the kitchen. Oh, how I love that humming...
But slowly and surely we have been weaned from those 3 hours in the evening...nowadays it is just 1,5 hours between 7 pm and 9 pm. And I am screaming "Whyyyyy...." into the starry skies...I so do not want to start washing our dirty clothes by hand. But I might have to. I really prefer vacuuming over sweeping, considering all the little friends that could feel too comfortable without the vacuum. I love taking a shower versus pouring water over myself from a bucket and trying to rinse my hair with just one hand.
Here I have to confess this...one night last week, waiting for the electricity to come on, I was ready for a counter-attack (I know this lack of electricity is not personal but it can feel like that sometimes). I put on all the electric devices, planned to use everything I could and needed...planned just to suck as much as I could from the lines when the mighty electricity would finally arrive...I would just use it all (maniac laugh)!
It is my right, as a human being, to have electricity. To have comfort. To have it easy...or at least little easier. A human right, right? Right?!
Have a look here:
1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity:
Breaking that down further:
| Region | Millions without electricity |
|---|---|
| South Asia | 706 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 547 |
| East Asia | 224 |
| Other | 101 |
We are so fortunate. YOU are so fortunate. I know it because you have a computer, you have an internet, you can keep your fingers from freezing when typing the address for my blog. You belong to the lucky numbers, my friend...
And I know all this lack of electricity or the abundance of it cannot rob me of my joy and contentment. Because the joy and peace I have is not based on circumstances.
No, it's not convenient, but it does not kill me. It grows character. (I hate that sentence. Do not use it on me.)
And 'they' promise it will be back in April. No one knows who 'they' are. It's ok. I will escape to the capital till it comes. See you later, with the lights on!
p.s. we are running the car right now to keep our batteries charged and the computers going :D So there! Ha ha!
