Country Notebook
By Rogene "Jeannie" McPherson
That takes me back. Such thoughts went through my head when I pulled out the newsletter in my mailbox from the local rural electric cooperative. It began with the title, “Apply for a Trip of a Life Time.”
As was likely true in the late 1960s, the contest is available to high school sophomores and juniors. Years ago the emphasis was on why having electricity in our home is important, and to apply and win the applicant had to write a convincing story about the importance of electricity.
It’s possible I completed the application, but I apparently didn’t win anything. I quizzed my cousin, just a couple of years younger, and she remembered winning but does not remember an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. One of us must have our electric wires messed-up as I remembered there was a trip involved, somewhere, not where the students travel this summer.
Now, the eligible high school student wins a trip to our nation’s capital. Read about it online, and if interested, check it out soon. It appears an interview is involved instead of a writing completion.
If I could make myself appear to be a high school student, I would attempt the transition and fib my way through the interview. I’m sure I could provide convincing arguments about of the necessity of electricity. For example, tragedy would hit our area if the power lines in the recent snowstorm had gone down for more than 24 hours.
Last time I checked, I plug in my mobile phone into an electrical outlet to keep my battery charged. The biggest danger for someone like me would the availability of 911 services. For a much younger version of me, I would be interested in knowing what my friends were doing and whether there would be a snow day the next day.
I’m not making fun of our youth, instead I am somewhat jealous of the services available. Notecards were necessary to write a research paper instead of cut and paste and the computer finding errors. If a typing mistake was made, the process began again unless there was onion skin paper. That will take some of you back! I would have typed the REC (REA then) letter on a manual typewriter. No electricity was needed, but this story would have taken many hours to write, instead of one to two.
I recently read a book on alternative energy sources including hydrogen, wind, solar, nuclear, coal, and water. Each have pros and cons, but as I understand one or more are needed to convert the power produced into electricity. My grandson’s electric car may not use carbon fuels directly, but the electricity needed by the car is generated by an alternative source.
I don’t understand all of the issues, but even a grandmother may want to consider educating herself on alternative energy sources. We can’t be like a turtle getting halfway across the road and then hearing a car coming. Putting oneself inside a shell isn’t life insurance.
Oh, how I wish I could go on a paid-expense trip to Washington, D.C. I expect the young people earning their way will return to their communities having a greater understanding of alternative sources of energy. I won’t fake my way into the contest, but I would make a really good chaperone. For more than 50 years, I’ve faithfully supported the REC in return for excellent electrical services.
By the way, thank you, line workers for you keeping the power on during the recent snowstorm. This grandma didn’t have to rely on another alternative source of energy, wood for my fireplace.
Rogene “Jeannie” McPherson, from the Centerville area, is a regular contributor to the Linn County Journal. Her latest book Posts from the Country, Adventures in Rural Living is available online at Amazon.com, Thriftbooks.com, and Barnesandnoble.com.
Commentaires