Earth Hour: Were your neighbors celebrating?

I was at my parents' house when the world observed Earth Hour. The idea behind Earth Hour was to bring attention to global warming by turning lights out for one hour at eight o clock with people around the world to reduce carbon emission with. 24 cities got involved by turning lights off in places that were normally left lit all night like the Golden Gate Bridge.

I will admit that my first though when I heard about earth hour was "One hour? Come on people, it's going to take more than that." I also originally thought people were refraining from using all electricity, not just lights.

Going without electricity (or running water) is familiar to me having grown up on an island. Electricity went out with high winds, storms, hurricanes, car accidents, and frequently for no apparent reason. Once we spent three weeks during Christmas without electricity. Once we spent a week boarded up in our, house huddling in the bathroom during a hurricane with out lights or running water and the imminent fear that the roof could be blown off at any minute. But that is a different story.

My parents loved the idea when I told them about Earth Hour and were excited to participate. We turned all the electricity off (including heat) and also our cellphones. When eight rolled around, the ritual of lighting lamps, turning on the battery operated radio, and gathering around the table to do art projects in the dim light with my parents was warm and familiar.
We were actually disappointed when the hour was up because it was so pleasant!

The most interesting thing that happened during Earth Hour was noticing which neighbors were also participating. My parents live in a small town and are probably on the fringe politically speaking. My mom believes it's possible she lost her job at the school in town (or rather, was forced to transfer districts) because of an anti-Bush sign they had in front of their house on the highway.

It was very cute to see my parents jumping up and peering out of their windows to see who else around them was participating. Maybe they had something in common? Maybe their neighbors were sympathetic? Maybe there were other people concerned about the plight of the environment around them? Then again, maybe that neighbor wasn't home.

I thought this was an interesting and unexpected outcome of Earth Hour. Although I expected to feel a wonderful simplicity with spending time without electricity on, I didn't foresee the possible community building and political camaraderie.

I still feel that an hour is almost an insult. It's like driving a hybrid SUV: close, but still so far away. I think it would be nice to integrate this practice into my life more by turning my electricity off one hour each night, perhaps before bed as a way to end the day and prepare myself for bed. This act really could make a difference environmentally, and perhaps have more profound impact on my life in other ways.

I have yet to do this, as much as I love the idea. There is just so much to do on that magic computer box that doing something by candlelight never seems to make it onto the list.

Excuse me, I'm turning my electricity off now.