I noticed google had a black screen yesterday. I didn’t like it but I wanted to know why they did that. I read that March 29th between 8 and 9 PM that, to bring attention to our high energy use, everyone should turn off our lights in our homes.

I got home from work about 7:20 pm. I feed the ducks most every night on the pond behind our home. That helps me decompress after work. I ate dinner and at 8pm my wife was watching Country Music Television and the Grand Ole Opry. 

I mentioned the blackout, to my wife, and how we needed to turn the television and the lights off. She said that we could go out on the driveway and sit and see if any of the neighbors might join us. I was good with that. I didn’t have to listen to bad singing and watching people dressed funny.   

        I had to prepare quickly. We turned the lights and television off. I went to the ice maker to fill my cup for my drink. I turned off the front porch lights that come on automatically everynight. I push the garage door opener and the light comes on in the garage ...drat. I push the controler that operates the wrought iron gate on my driveway. We pick up lawn chairs and walk out of the garage on the driveway and the motion detector on the security light picks us up and the light comes on...double drat. That will be on for 5 minutes. 

We sit down and have a nice conversation. We watch the cars down the street run the stop sign. The street light next to my driveway comes on and showers us in light. We can hear the lighted fountain on the pond behind us spraying water 15 feet into the air. Planes are in a pattern over my neighborhood this night.  All our neighbors were in their homes, at their tv’s or computers. None came outside for that hour.

We can’t get away from high energy use in our society without giving up all the things that we have worked very hard for. The only way we will do without energy is if it runs out. I don’t think that will happen but I could be wrong. The sustainability of any energy source and/or the sustainability of our political will will be the keys.    

I hope the grandchildren, that I love so dearly, don’t suffer from my generations addiction to energy. If there is no energy in their future they would then have to live the life of my great grandparents. How bad would that be?  I can only imagine.