No Power Friday...

This past Friday an extraordinary thing happened. I was right in the middle of watching Oprah interview Tom cruise when our power went out...and then came back on...and then went out again...and then came back on...and then went out again, for good.

After a few minutes I got bored and decided to take Bear out for a walk. So I stepped outside and... POW...camaraderie. All of our neighbors and their children had stepped outside, into what happened to be a perfect California-sunny day, and actually began talking. Kids, unable to spend the afternoon in the usual way, got out their scooters and bikes and played (gasp) outside.

It was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I have had in a while. Throwing the ball to my puppy outside on the lawn, talking to my neighbors whom I had never met before. All of this made me think that what we need is to have the power go out, nation-wide, every Friday. Ok, ok, so it might not be ideal for the economy, traffic, or hospitals...but it sure would enhance our ability to have fun the old fashioned way: un-mediated.

"I am taught the poorness of our invention, the ugliness of towns and palaces. Art and luxury have early learned that they must work as enhancement and sequel to this original beauty...Henceforth I shall be hard to please. He who knows the most, he who knows what sweets and virtues are in the ground, the waters, the plants, the heavens, and how to come at these enchantments, is the rich and royal man. Only as far as the masters of the world have called in nature to their aid, can they reach the height of magnificence."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson