I get up for work before the sun, and then I turn on the light and I cringe. It blinds me. I look the other way and I blink and I stand and wait until slowly I acclimate. Then I can see the shower to turn it on and get to the business of the morning.
I remember waking before the sun for work in Lesotho. Actually, I would wake before the sun because I wanted to study Sesotho for an hour before going to do my teaching work.
I got out of bed and shuffled carefully in the black to the table upon which I kept my box of matches. I struck a match — the light was small and orange, not blinding white — and then I lit the wick of the nearby candle. The room was slightly, partially, innocently illuminated. I eased into the day.
Electricity is cool, yes. I like being able to use this laptop computer. But sometimes I think of switching back to candles, just in the pre-dawn mornings, just for that smoother transition between sleep, darkness, and a busy day.
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