My wife and I spend an hour of quiet conversation in the dark.

The clock on my computer reads 9:36. My wife is now scurrying around resetting all the clocks. At precisely 8:30, we flipped the main power breaker for the house to take it completely off the grid in observance of Earth Hour, the global protest about what’s happening to our planet.

I’m a little disappointed that my little town in Color Country … usually a leader in things like this … wasn’t proactive enough to at least make a statement about it. After all, Dallas, Texas managed to measure up. Why couldn’t we?

Wrapped up in blankets, we occupied the hour sitting outside and talking about the stars, politics, and why our neighbors’ lights were all still blazing away. All in all, it was a nice hour.

But it didn’t take long to get back on the grid, fire up the computer, and heat up a cup of coffee in the microwave.

I learned during the Viet Nam war that protests don’t, in general, do any damn good at all and I certainly didn’t have any expectations that this one would actually make any difference either. The only reason for doing anything like this is an internal reason. It’s not that it changes the world at all. Any change that happens … or perhaps, ‘preservation’ is a better word … happens internally.

On that score, it was good. If they’re still doing it next year … and civilization hasn’t dissolved completely by then … I think we’ll do it again.