Sometimes someone has to turn on the light switch. Every now and again it is much too dark to make the evening tea. Not long after MJ and I were married we were visiting her mom and dad in DuQuoin. It was winter that had grown dark early. Berl asked Fernie if she would like for him to make her a cup of tea. We were sitting in their little living room that was quite drafty and we were warmed by an electric space heater and had but the light of the electric coils of the heater and the blue light of the television for our illumination. Fernie replied that she would enjoy a cup of tea and thus Berl walked into the totally dark kitchen to do the job. As he walked into the kitchen Fernie said to MJ and me that we should watch and see that he will turn on the stove light to make the tea. I wondered how he could possibly see what he was doing if he did not. Indeed Berl turned on the dim stove light and began the tea. Fernie looked at us with a wide smile and said, ‘See I told you that man would turn on the stove light!’ Berl and Fernie had lived during the Great Depression and they did not waste money.
Fernie often asked me if I was 30 years old yet. This bothered me a little as I felt that I was mature and did not need to be reminded of what seemed to her to be my perpetual youth. Now I would be overjoyed to be reminded!
As I journeyed through Eldorado last Sunday I was struck by how events of 50 and more years ago seemed as if they had happened yesterday. What seems long to us due to our short lives is really just a moment in time. We go along for some considerable days with little new ideas or innovative plans…and then suddenly there they are in front of our faces. Suddenly someone has turned on the Stove Light…and we can see how to make the tea.
Dim light is much better than no light at all. Our lives are governed by our past experiences…unless we turn on the little light of mystery and magic. In that light are visions of things that we did not see in the dark. Possibilities and opportunities are illuminated in the little light. The little light brings hope and comfort and fueling of our engines to move forward and discover what awaits us that is just beyond our view…
Enjoy your tea!
The Happy Traveler 
I admire the frugality of our grandparents or parents. They went through some hard times and I remember how my grandparents used to be thrifty too, unlike my generation, air con, fan and lights on all the time. I ought to change and practise saving energy.
They understood the value of what they had. Nothing was disposed of if it could be repaired.
Yes, compared to today I see how we easily discard broken electrical appliances as I cannot find folks who can repair it. These days, if it is broken, cheaper to replace it. Not helping our environment I feel. But I am guilty of it too as I cannot find repair folks.
What a fabulous post. And a timely reminder. ✨💖
Thank you, my friend!