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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Is It Spring Yet Mom?


Wake up Mom!

Hush Bambi!  Can’t you see its high noon?  Now chew your cud and let me sleep.

But Mom, I got to know.

OK Bambi, I give up.  Know what?

Is it spring yet Mom?

Oh Bambi, look at all the fresh, deep snow around you.  Look at the falling flakes.  See how they pile up, one after another, on your darling little antler nubs.

But Mom, how can I see my own antler nubs?

Well…you have a point there.   Now something’s up and you can’t hide it from Mom, so you might as well tell her what you did.

Alright, alight.  You see that house up there.

Of course, where they planted those nummy cherry trees for us to eat this winter.  Nice folk.

Well...I went up there this morning while you slept.

What!!!???   In broad daylight?  You could have been shot.

You said they were nice folk.

Well…you have a point there.  Now tell me what happened.

I crept quietly into their house.

What!!!??? That’s impossible.  You can’t turn a doorknob.  You have no opposable thumb.

Nor do I have vocal chords, yet I’m talking.

Well…you have a point there.  Go on.

I snuck down the stairs---clump, clump, clump---into the cellar.  There were clothes on the line.

You ate their clothes!  That explains everything.  You’re delirious.  Let me see that cud you’re chewing.

Mom!  Do I look like a goat?

Well…you have a point there.  Go on.

There was a bright light on the far wall.   I couldn’t help myself.  It pulled me toward it. 

Not the bright light!  What was it?

An Outback FlexPowerOne Invertor, safely directing DC current from a 3kW photoelectric solar array through a charge controller to replenish a 40kW hour off-grid battery bank. 

You’re just my little bambino.  You can’t know such things…

We’ve been over this. 

My head’s spinning.  What did you want to know again?

Is it spring yet Mom?

Very well Bambi, tell me why, oh why---with snow flying all around---you think it might be spring.

Their solar array was cranking 1200 watts!  In the middle of a snowstorm!  What else but spring could shine so much light through so much darkness?

1200 watts you say, in the middle of a snowstorm, is that a lot?

Geez Mom!  Were you born in the backwoods or something?

Well…actually…

Mom!

OK Bambi, I guess your question comes down to this.  What is spring?   I’ve endured many a harsh and hungry winter, yet the end is always the same:  fickle.   The rain finally comes, then it snows again.  The warmth finally comes, then it’s cold again.   The plum tree finally blossoms, then it freezes again.  But from all I've seen, once the light chases away the dark, the light is here to stay.  So if spring is all about the glorious return of light, then yes my little bambino---in spite of the cold and snow----spring is here and it’s here to stay!
 
Nice, out of character soliloquy Mom.

Thanks Bambi.  I thought the Mom character needed to display a little growth in this vignette.

Fine, but now you’re confusing the point.  Readers are going to forget why we’ve wasted their time with all this silliness.

Oh no my deer boy, you have much to learn about our people friends. 

Do they live for the light Mom?

They’re nice folk.

But Mom I want to know…

Chew your cud Bambi.  Chew your cud.
 

1 comment:

  1. Hello ! I am a French TV journalist interested by your amazing off the grid story. Would you be ok to talk on the phone - unformal call, off the records - just to say hi ?
    Please email or call me if you are interested ! (Or let me know if you are not)
    I am looking forward to our conversation !
    Best,
    Jennifer 347 781 6332 : jenluby1@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete