My Apologies to the Polar Bears

We are not fanatics about the environment, but we try to do our share.  We clutter our front hall with newspapers in recyclable bags until one of us gets motivated to haul them down to the basement recycling bin.   We faithfully rinse and recycle glass, aluminum and plastic in the trash room containers. We carry Trader Joe's reusable grocery bags on shopping trips and I use the backs of  used envelopes for notes.  Those of you who knew my mom - knew the history of her life could have been reconstructed from notes on the backs of envelopes.

Today I drew the line on what I'm willing to sacrifice for the better good.  I refuse to go blind trying to use light bulbs that take forever to get bright and then are still too dim to read or cook by.  Besides, one of them just burned out -years before its heralded  end of life. Although I have recently sworn off cooking, I still need to use a knife in the kitchen ( those limes for my cosmos don't come already cut, do they?)   and I really don't want to mistake my index finger for a stalk of celery.

  I found that in order to see what I'm doing with the new early darkness I needed ,in addition to the overhead light with the energy saving bulbs, the halogen lights over my island and under my cabinets plus the hall light. I think I spent more energy on those than I saved with the dim-wits in the ceiling. It is now nearing darkness and  I switch on the ceiling light with the newly installed old fashioned light bulbs.  I can actually see in my kitchen.  So with all due respect to Al Gore, the EPA and my friends in Antarctica, I'm sticking with what works for me. 

I look forward to tomorrow morning's crossword puzzle - I think I'll be able to read the numbers without a flashlight.

Sorry, guys.