Our Earth Hour 2008

Coincidentally, Earth hour fell on my birthday this year and thankfully gave me a reason to get excited about it instead of that creeping dread I had been experiencing.

As it turned out, since it was my birthday, my dear husband, Roy, was taking care of the house, the kids, dinner, baking me a cake from scratch and even washing dishes, we hadn't eaten dinner before 8pm! So we had a candlelit dinner with the whole family. We talked and told stories and we ate really well too because we were all darned near starving.

We have family meals every night, but this one was a little different. With the glow of the candles and no background noises from televisions or radios or humming computers, we just enjoyed each other. We lingered in the glow of the candles. Had some extremely delicious carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting of course) and took a couple pictures of our night. No one asked to be excused. With no computer to run off to, or tv to return to...who would want to leave a table laden with candles and scrumptious home-made carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting of course.)

We've decided that candle-lit dinners will be a nice change of pace, so we're going to do them regularly. Life slowed down for an hour. We payed attention a little better for an hour. We listened a little better.

And every single one of us noted just how many things we had to turn off to plunge our home into darkness. It was a lot, actually. Nearly every light in the basement. Nearly every light on the main floor. Two computers. Two televisions. Clocks and the microwave.

We took a look outside and only one other house was completely dark. That was a tad disappointing, though our city did participate. The Standard reports that electricity usage was 9.2% lower than an average Saturday night in March for St. Catharines. I think that's significant, considering how many houses I could see ablaze. Good job, St. Kitt's. Let's see how we do next year.

Change begins with one, though, right? One change I think is appropriate in this case. If we could make one change...it could start a domino effect of singular changes for individuals around the world. When you add that all up...that's a difference.

Sure, one hour one night a year of darkness isn't going to halt whatever path we're on now. Noticing one's own unnecessary waste is the first step in reducing it.



As a bonus, it was an enjoyable time in this household. I doubt the kids will forget it. Should it become a weekly tradition, I know they never will.

Coming up next....all that yummy stuff I've been teasing you with for the past several days.

And maybe soon I'll share Roy's carrot cake recipe with you. It's delicious. And you know what, he doesn't even like carrot cake. But I love it! And I haven't made one in at least 10 years. (Go ahead, guess how long we've been married.)

Enjoy!