To be read in a candle-lit room

It’s the perfect atmosphere. Candles softly flickering all around the house. Music wafting, keeping the baby asleep. Necessitated by the government. This disappointing government. Electricity cuts are up to 12 hours per day: an even 6 hours rotation (2-8am off, 8am-2pm on, 2-8pm off, 8pm-2am on). Rumors have it that it will go up to 14, 16, maybe even 18 hours a day! But, my anger melts away, like the wax from the slowly dripping candles, when I bask in the softness, quietness, gentleness of these au-naturale evenings. No microwaves, no buzzing refrigerators, no painful incandescent lights. Some say we’re back in the stone age. I can’t help think that the stone agers must have been a much more relaxed group of people. Candles indeed produce a mood. The small, warm fire can’t help but soften the spirit of anyone inhabiting a room or house filled with their gentle glow. My computer is the only artificial light right now, and it’s music adds to the atmosphere. I’m always torn when the lights come on at night. Wanting to keep the atmosphere as it is and let it lull me to sleep like it did my daughter. Sometimes I solve the problem by going to bed before the lights return, turning in early, like I do so many nights.

Some of my friends have generators, keeping their lives “normal.” I’m not jealous. There is something about the forced solidarity: experiencing this part of life like everyone else in this country. There have been many newspaper articles written about the effects of this “load shedding” (the official term of the scheduled routine of getting your lights turned off and on by the electric company). Some people find it miserable, but many people say it forces them to spend quality time with their families. No television, no computers. My sister-in-law’s are happy for it, because it forces their kids to play. It does cause us to plan in advance a little more. “Is the electricity going to be on tomorrow morning? Better iron the clothes tonight.” Yes, sometimes it’s a pain, often it’s inconvenient. But I’ve learned the sometimes reheating food on the stove takes less time then reheating it in the microwave. And I’ve learned that there is something peaceful to closing the day surrounded by the flicker of a candle lit room.