Does an absence of light mean darkness?
Locally, Earth Hour has ended. One whole hour without an excess of artificial light. Symbolic gestures are simple, but imagine if this event progressed. Rather than one hour per year, how about one per month, per week, per day. Maybe then we could move on to more substantial gestures.
Actually, this was our third year taking part, and with only two of us in the house. We may have cheated (a little), because the TV stayed on this year. A screen of LCDs instead of the old tube monster we used to keep around to balance the heat and radiation needs. I know, in a sense it was only Earth hour (small h version).
Back to the idea of an enlarged and improved version. We do “get away from the grid” for a month each year, but that’s because our lifestyle allows us to choose. In other parts of the world, lighting isn’t available “at the flick of a switch”. I have no doubt that the choice of filling, trimming and lighting a lamp or two each evening would mean our leisure activities would change (a consequence).
This afternoon, I purchased a slide. One more way to experiment with my guitar. I tried to buy a pair of mallets (one more way to experiment with my percussive world) but the shop owner had none. He did remark that I wasn’t the first to ask, and that he might need to vary his stock. I wonder how many other people actually try to purchase timpani mallets (here in the city) in the run of a year. One, dozens, hundreds? Is there a whole drumming fraternity that escapes my attention?