Our Earth Hour evening was quiet and low-key, although it nearly started with a trip to the ER when I used a knife to dislodge a plug of wax from an old candleholder. ;)
We started early, around 6 p.m., by shutting down our computers, monitors and printer. I hadn’t realized how loud these all were. The silence was heavenly.
We ate dinner by candlelight even though it was still light out.
There were a lot of candles, and I spent most of the evening with my heart in my throat, waiting for someone to swing their arm/hair/leg and knock one over and start the First Official Earth Hour Conflagration. But that never actually happened.
We played a few fun games by candlelight/flashlight. This is Sarah, trying an elephant.
We looked at old photo albums (“What do you mean by FILM mumma?”) but I couldn’t truly enjoy it, because I was too busy wondering why someone hadn’t told me I needed to pluck my eyebrows.
I read a chapter of Sister’s Grimm (which we are enjoying very very much) and the kids went to bed. It was sooooo quiet in the house, you could hear a pin drop.
Mark and I were playing Bananagrams by candlelight when suddenly we heard a creepy sound coming out of the kitchen. It sounded like animal toenails on the linoleum floor- scritch scritch scritch. My panic was instantaneous. What could it be? Did a raccoon/skunk/hyena find its way into our house… mistaking it for some darkened burrow?!
Mark, to his credit, got up and checked. Within a second or two he reported back. Thankfully, it was not a hyena. One of the candles I’d lit in the kitchen was sputtering.
Ha. Ha.
I’d like to write that we spent our whole evening electricity-free (which was my plan), but around 10:00 we caved and watched A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, made popcorn (on the ELECTRIC STOVE), and even turned some lights on to do it.
We went to bed late, but I have to say, I felt somehow calmed by the whole thing. I would like to have low-tech evenings more often. Hmmm.
p.s. Check out the Toronto Star piece I mentioned the other day. Lots of interesting info in there.
