Were we happier back then?

The power went off last night because of a glitter storm. It has been on and off ever since. It will probably be like this until the glitter vanishes. One wonders whether to turn off the appliances or take a chance. The decision is to take a chance and try to cook pea soup and dumplings for lunch, or dinner, to be more Newfoundland precise.

What a glorious morning it is. The trees are weighed down with glitter. It is a marvellous picture, but can't be good for the overall health of the trees. People are saying they have never seen so much thick, heavy glitter.

But people have scandalously bad memories. On one account they may be right. Glitter is unusual for March, but one year in the late seventies there was much more glitter one Saturday in April. It sticks in my mind because we had a visitor who drove from Musgrave Harbour on a sheet of ice, in a small jeep.

The climate has been notoriously fickle during my lifetime. It's easy for the young to chalk up the changes to manmade global warming, but we've seen it all. In 1959, there was no winter snow in St. John's. In April of 1960, there was a glitter storm that knocked out the power for days. We used an old fireplace and the smoke and fumes from the coal were suffocating.

In 1971, there was no winter snow in St. John's. On March 16, people were jogging around Quidi Vidi Lake in shorts. There's no doubt that humans are polluting the environment with ever-increasing regularity, but climate change has been around forever.

As long as greed rules the day, pollution will always be with us. A carbon tax, which the powers that be are trying to foist upon us, will only ensure that industry will not have to face this important issue.

When the power went off last night, the lamp from the bedroom of my childhood home was lit. It still works as well now as it ever did, whereas newer lamps purchased 10 or so years ago have not stood the test of time. Of course, we don't have to use lamps at all now, even when there is no power. We have outgrown the tried and tested.

However, last night it was an oil lamp and the fireplace. Not as good as long ago, but a good reminder of how it used to be. As well as conjuring up good memories of warmth and comfort, it was also a reminder of the fumes. It's a wonder we haven't all died off from lung cancer or toxic poisoning. It's probably a testimony to the resilience of the human body that there are any of my generation left.

Were we happier then? As Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." It was the best of times because we were self-sufficient. We didn't catch fish and send it to China to be processed. We could fish our own cod and process it for home and abroad. We grew our own vegetables and we cut our own firewood to heat our houses. It was the worst of times because we lived in isolation and common treatable illnesses took the lives of many people.

Just like today, we were slaves to industry. But, unlike today, we could survive on our own, if necessary. Today, we have it all. Electricity and slick roads connect us to each other. Yet all this requires that the systems have to be maintained.

When the power is interrupted humans must go out in all winds and weather to sort out the problems. When the roads are blocked with snow, they have to be cleared. The power, road and telephone maintenance workers are to be commended for the job they do to keep us warm and connected.