From Carly’s brain to your computer-
This is my first time writing anything on the web that is more detailed then a “I hate my job” Facebook status update. At the moment I am living on a remote Maine island (not remote in terms of physical distance but remote in every other sense of the word) unemployed, trying to start a new business, living on the same 5 acres as my mother. Life is strange to say the least.
Recently the seasons have begun to change, summer slowly seeping into fall. It has been many years since I have been in Maine when fall is coming on the same goes for my mother but for her it has been even longer. Claire is used to having the solar panels fully charged and if worse comes to worse then Ben (husband/my father) will fix it. Ben is back in South Africa working and it has fallen to us to worry and “fix” the solar power. After a stretch of four foggy days when the power level in the batteries dipped down to 60% Claire freaked out. The sun came out the next day and we were back up to 100% power. But two days later the dense fog returned (only for a day) and we dipped down to 85%. Unacceptable said the new power Nazi. Now the refrigerator is unplugged, “who needs a frig, we will just use the freezer and everything that can not be frozen will go into the cooler”. We have reverted back to the time of ice houses. Only one light can be turned on at a time. Dinner must be cooked in the dark least we use any power. The other day I was making dinner and went into the refrigerator, I mean cooler, to get out a stick of butter. I searched through the frozen jugs and the freezer packs, no butter. I knew we had butter, we had lots, where was it? Ahhhh, it was all frozen, or course along with all of our cheese.
The sun is out today and it promises to be a beautiful almost autumn day. A good day now means one where the solar panels will reach 100%, strange how life can boil down to just a few things that are suddenly very important.
Two Chicks on an Island 
Claire’s says-
In my defense I have been a power Nazi for years. When I taught in South Africa it drove me completely crazy that classrooms would have the AC/heat on full blast with the doors wide open to let in the fresh air. Kids were unaware that one needed to close doors in part I think because the weather is so wonderful in South Africa but also because they were completely disconnected from the reality of power.
Solar in South Africa makes sense; solar on a remote island off the coast of Maine is great when the sun shines. It’s foggy a lot in Maine and that’s why I replaced the fridge with a frozen milk jug. And it’s a well know Google fact that frozen cheese and butter taste better.
Let the sun shine!!!!