Earth Hour and Family

We celebrated Earth hour this weekend. While many parts of the world dimmed their lights for an hour, we removed ourselves from virtually all electricity for the better part of two hours. The prep was more exciting and well thought out than our last two new years eves combined.

I had determined a few days prior- that this moment, ( between eight thirty and nine thirty when the lights of the City would be dimmed ) would be the best chance to make use of our telescope and have a stargazing event of our own. So we dusted off the telescope, rounded up picnic blankets, lit candles and prepared an easy pizza dinner to snack on in the dark. In addition to the telescope and binoculars, I brought out my guitar and later we took turns strumming tunes for each other in the candlelight .

Well prepared - we were early to the party. While we waited for the clock to tick down to the official starting time, we tossed a giant beach ball my sister sent us back and forth in the dark, playing a kinder form of keep away as our eyes adjusted. Dad wandered the perimeter and turned off the motion sensitive lights that TheCat illuminated for us with his prowling of the yard. We played together in the stillness of the night and watched as the stars grew brighter and our eyes adjusted.

While initially tempted to enable internet access and access starcharts that way, instead I perused the bookshelves and located The Night Sky and located our very cool glow in the dark starfinder wheel. With one blast of the torch to power it up, we could hold it up to the sky and compare what we saw with the chart. Of course now I've located a more detailed version that can be made ourselves (not glow in the dark of course).

When my sweetheart was satisfied with how he had lined up Orions belt, he called each of us over and I stood there with his arms around me watching the stars come into focus before us. Absolutely fabulous! Like a dork, the dork that I am - standing there beneath the stars, surrounded by my favorite people - it was heavenly.

While monuments such as the eiffel tower (for 5 minutes??? - I show my disbelief by using no capitalization there) and the Egyptian Pyramids faded to dark and throughout the world, bridges and skyscrapers seized to pierce the sky with their light, we took turns dancing around the backyard with our lightsabers lighting our way. Sadly - the rest of the world embraced the moment with more precision. Images of San Francisco and San Jose are much less notable nd dramatic than London or Peru.