The solar panels have been up for about a week now. We have four panels that we bought from Costco and they are hooked into a 12 volt battery. I don't fully understand the mechanics of how it produces electricity, but it has brought some of the modern world on to the land. Basically, the panels are out in the sun all day and charge up the battery. We can then run things off the battery. It's not a huge system. It runs about 60 watts of power. It is more than enough to charge up the cell phones, the laptop, the rechargeable lanterns, and our Sonic Care toothbrushes. We have named her Sunshine. I sometimes stand in the lawn and stare at her modern lines against the wild grasses and the rustic cabin. She's a thing of beauty. One of the best things about her is that she is very, very, very quiet. I think I am in love.
We don't usually name our appliances. We have, however, named all of our cars. The Volvo SUV is Chloe. Our Volvo wagon is Blix. The Honda Odyssey Van we had in Honolulu was named Daisy. Our Jeep Cherokee before Daisy was Sophia. Before Sophia was Mindy another wagon. We had a white Dodge named Speed Racer. And our very first new car together was a red Honda Civic named Elmo. Even Bodhi likes to get into naming his things. His "Flintstone" style car is named Chloe-Eva after our Volvo and his friend in Honolulu. His jogging stroller is named Bob, because that's the way it came from the factory. The Maclaren stroller is named Sham-Sham after the cat at the Krishna Temple in Honolulu. And of course, all of his trains have names.
Why do we do this? Why do we name these impermanent things? On one level, it's just fun. On another level, the practice helps us to embrace these items like members of our family and as such we tend to take better care of them. I like the first reason best. Sometimes it's just fun to come up with names for our stuff.
It took Kim and I a while to come up with the name Chloe for the SUV. We actually started looking at baby name books to come up with just the right name. We felt a twinge of sadness the day we watched Daisy drive away with her new family in Honolulu. We knew the van wouldn't be able to handle the roads leading to our land. We were really happy, though, with the family that took in Daisy. They had three little kids and one more coming with only a small grey sedan. They needed a van and we needed an SUV. Chloe has provided us with a sense of safety, security and a little bit of luxury as we drive the rugged Puna roads.
I know all of this stuff is just stuff and it might be better to get a dog and name it instead. But being out on the land has certainly given me the contrast I need, to know what kinds of things I am willing to allow and embrace in my life. When we first got out on the land, I had thoughts of not having any modern conveniences at all. But, by my own admission, the utility sink, the solar panels, the rechargeable lanterns, the laptop, and even the Sonic Care toothbrushes have certainly eased our lives. I'm certainly not promoting the idea of mindless attachment to material things. Rather, I am willing to allow these items in, embrace them while they are with us, and gratefully let them go when they no longer serve our needs.
Sunshine and the utility sink (we need to come up with a name) also show me all the abundance around me. The rain falls freely from the sky, fills the tank and comes flowing through the pipes for our use. Sunshine soaks up the day's sun and gives electricity. Rain or shine we are being provided for.
It's all good.
No comments:
Post a Comment