Earth Hour

Here I am, taking part in Earth Hour 2014. Sitting by candle light, enjoying the quietness and peacefulness of the night. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and we lived in rural NSW. Blackouts were common so my parents always had a supply of candles and a very impressive 'hurricane lamp'. It was put in the middle of the dining room table, where we would sit and play cards or board games by its light. It was so much fun! Sometimes I would want to tell 'scary stories' but being a bit of a scaredy-cat, these were very short-lived.I can remember being disappointed when the power eventually came back on. A few years ago, my own family lived out of town in an area that often has blackouts. My two children were younger and living at home. Whenever we had no power, there would be a rush to light lots of candles and set up the cards or board games at the dining room table. And there would be moans of disappointment when the lights came back on. They enjoyed these times so much that we were known to have 'pretend blackouts' so as to sit by candle light and play games!