Genesis 1:3

In early March, when we had some blustery storms during which we lost power for about 30 hours, we relied primarily on our oil lamps at night.

I love oil lamps. I've loved them since I was a teenager. I still have and cherish an oil lamp my parents gave me for Christmas when I was 16. At that age I often used it for lighting when doing homework in my bedroom.

While we have the makings for many such lamps, I keep three filled and on standby for power outages. Here I'm refilling them before storing them away. (The silver lamp with the handle on the right-hand side is the lamp my parents gave me for Christmas so many years ago.)

To fill the lamps, I find it easiest to pour the kerosene into a measuring cup. This way it won't splash everywhere when topping off the lamps.

Lamps shouldn't be overly full. Usually the base has some decorative marks and shouldn't be filled above those marks.

Because we live in a dusty household, I've taken to slipping plastic bags over the lamps...

...before storing them on top the fridge for quick access.

For additional (and harsher) lighting, we have some LED lanterns.

These can be powered by battery, by hand-cranking, by solar charging, or by electric charging, and put out a decent amount of light. Often they're preferable for reading in dark conditions.

After cleaning and storing away the three oil lamps, I decided to do something I haven't done in years: clean and prep the hanging oil lamp.

The story of this lamp goes back to when I flew out to Ohio with Older Daughter back in 2015 to drop her off at nanny school. During that trip, I made what I called my "pilgrimage" to Lehman's, the Amish goods store, which is something I'd wanted to see for years. On that trip, I admired a hanging oil lamp, but couldn't purchase it at the time since I couldn't get it home.

Unexpectedly a friend purchased it for me, and I love it. However in our old home, we never had a suitable place to hang it. Since moving here, I've stored it on top the fridge with the other lamps, but it was dusty and dirty and in desperate need of cleaning.

So I gave it a bath and filled it with oil.

Since it had been years since I'd used it, the wick needed a few minutes to absorb the kerosene.

Then I lit the lamp to make sure the wick was properly trimmed.

Don found me an "S" hook, and I hung the lamp next to the corner of the bookshelves.

It is such a thing of beauty that I almost can't wait for another power outage to use it.

So there you go. Genesis 1:3: Let there be light.

Let there (not) be light

This is a street light.

It's a particularly annoying street light because it's located smack in our driveway, right near the house. (I believe the more accurate term is "yard light.")

It was annoying because we couldn't turn it off. It came on automatically at dusk and turned off automatically at dawn. This meant it illuminated the entire driveway area. In this photo, I caught a couple of deer going by.

The light also blotted out the stars, shone into bedroom windows, and probably drove the neighbors nuts. Why would anyone want one of these beasts in their driveway?

I had a friend in college who grew up on a dairy farm, and a bunch of us spent a week at his farm one summer. It was the first time I'd seen a yard light on private property, and in the case of a dairy farm, I "get" it. Nighttime light is crucial if you have situations that need immediate attention, such as farm emergencies.

But out here at the back end of nowhere? No way. We're not living in the city anymore. We refused to put up with unnecessary light pollution.

So we called the local electrical provider and requested it be turned off. The customer service lady was puzzled and wondered why. "It only costs about $8 a month to run," she said persuasively.

But we were undeterred. So about a week later, a couple of electricians came by and used what literally looked like a television remote control to turn off the light.

Now it's nice and dark. We can see the stars. We don't have light shining in bedroom windows. I'm sure the neighbors are happier. It's been delightful.

 Update: I went outside at night and braced the camera against the deck and snapped a photo. This was the result.