Looking back: light and heat

As I turned on a light this morning with a flick of a switch I thought about how easy this is to do. As listened to my furnace making noises downstairs I thought about how I keep warm. Electricity for lights and everything else and then natural gas foe heating have always been part of my house life in Ottawa.

In my past it was always electric lights and the house on Princess Street was heated by electricity too. There was no furnace in the basement.

For a long time there was a free source of electricity - a perk from my dad’s work at Ayers and because we were living in a former company house. This changed some time after my dad died and my mom had to sign up with Hydro Quebec. Then my mom was more careful with the lights that she had on and also the heat in unused bedrooms during the winter.

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In 1916 in Trois-Rivieres when my mom was born there was probably electric lights and heating by coal.

In 1885 in Middlesborough England when my mom’s mom was born there was probably candles - maybe gas lights somewhere - and heating by coal.

These are educated guesses only.

I have been watching Lark Rise to Candleford - a lovely series of two small villages in the late 1900s. I can understand why a good friend liked them - a nice feel to the story.