Opinion: Back to the basics
My husband and I were at home, kicking back, watching television. All of a sudden, the electricity went out all around the neighborhood. We sat there in the dark on our sectional sofa for a few minutes, expecting the power to come right back on so we could resume watching our favorite TV shows. The house remained dark and quiet, so we used flashlights to find candles and lanterns. The power remained off for about an hour.
I actually enjoy times when we lose power in the house. It’s kind of interesting, and romantic (smile). It’s fun to have the house lit by candlelight, and to have a few quiet moments without the distractions of radio or television, or other electronic devices that are dependent on electrical power. My husband is the one who loves to watch TV, so when the power is off, I get him all to myself (smile again).
As we sat there that night in the dark, enjoying the evening, I thought about how dependent we are on our electricity as well as all of our other modern conveniences. Suddenly, I remembered that my cell phone was almost out of “juice.” I had procrastinated about plugging it in to have it charged. Panic took over. My laptop had a full charge, so I got a USB plug and connected my phone to the laptop. Of course, my laptop doesn’t hold much of a charge itself, so this type of connection wasn’t going to help me if the power didn’t come on for a long period of time.
What was I to do if my cell phone completely lost its charge? Oh no! I would not even be able to go on the Internet to find out what was happening with PG&E. To access the Internet would further drain the battery. If the phone went dead, I couldn’t even call 911.
Lions and tigers and bears! Oh no!
Fortunately, the power did come on before my phone went dead. What a relief! As we pondered and discussed what had just happened in our home, we talked about whether we could ever really survive without electricity or computers or cell phones, microwaves or dishwashers or air conditioning. We are so accustomed to them in this modern age, that I sincerely doubt any of us could imagine what it would be like to be without computers or electronic devices.
Computers run everything. My dear friends, computers run electricity, and electricity runs computers. If you think you have a home without a computer, think again. The TV has computers, and so do the DVD players. Do you have a cell phone or a landline? It doesn’t matter. Both are run by computers. Do you have a digital clock? Computer. How about an analog clock? Is it battery operated? Computer.
Can we ever get back to basics? The answer can be found in one word. No.
“You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.” — H. R. Haldeman
Have a great weekend.
— My love to all,
Nancy
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Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
— Psalm 37:4
