Ever have one of those moments where you suddenly realize that something you thought true and defended was.... Obviously and humorously false? Well... I have, and those moments always bring a smile of self realization.... And a warning about being too dogmatic about unconfirmed truth. Here is my most recent example of silly realizations....
We now have four chicken coops in the pasture with automatic solar powered lights. Cloudy Winter days do not provide enough solar power to charge the batteries so that ultimately every 2 to 4 days of consecutive cloudiness requires manual charging of batteries. This is critical since a sudden change of day length by a dead battery for more than 3 days can cause molting and loss of egg production for 2 months!
So.. In Winter I usually glance out our bedroom window every night between 2am and 5am to make sure all four coops are lighted. If not... Note to self to charge battery.
This week I glanced it the window, peaking between the shutter slats at about 3am as usual to see not one but all four coops were dark! That's odd... All 4 at once? Hmmm...
But then.. This week we have been off schedule suffering from a cold the whole family caught... So i went out milking later than usual and so couldn't verify the lights out on the way to milking after 7am. I also never made it out to fix the lights that day.
Next night, I check again at around 4am and sure enough, no lights on any coops. The night seemed unusually dark actually.... Pitch dark outside the shuttered window. I put on my glades and checked again... marveling at the depth of darkness outside ... Thinking it must be the no moon cycle. But again back to bed.
That afternoon after returned from deliveries tired and still half sick.. I realized that the lights were now an emergency. Facing 3 days of darkness could obliterate our winter egg supply. So I told brenda that, tired as I was, I had to go work on all 4 coops.
"But wait" she says.. "I saw two burning this morning at milking...."
How could that be? My mind was whirling, trying to find how they could be on at 6am if the batteries were dead at 3am? Could all 4 timers be off? Could all 4 be suffering from some universal problem? Doesn't seem possible.
We explored back and forth but brenda insisted that 2 coops were lit at 6am. I was baffled... "but that's impossible.... I looked out the window 2 nights in row and see no lights at all... Anywhere." I insisted.
A smile creeps across her face. "the bedroom window?"
"yes.. As I always do "
Silence.... For a moment....
" remember a couple days ago how you mentioned it was too bright in the bedroom for the young boys' afternoon nap? " My beautiful bride starts
" yes "
" remember suggesting that we should block of the window with anything to see if it helps them sleep? "
Realization starts to dawn somewhere deep in my thoughts... But no... Could it be?
" well.... " she continues " I fixed it two days ago.. With cardboard in the window "
Ummmm.. Really? I have been staring at a piece of cardboard in the window, inches from my eyes, marveling at the blackness of a starless night? Sure enough... I had.
The moral of this story? I dunno... Is there a moral? Maybe some times we are just silly trying to see things clearly when it's just not possible.... Maybe we need to be more careful trusting or own 5 senses... Maybe it's never as dark as it may appear....
Or maybe there is no moral but to laugh at ourselves and our silly realizations.
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