Canned lightning a perfect cure for winter blahs

To the editor:
    I see from the pictures sent to me by various people that snow has come home. Finally, the snow snakes and wisps will have something to play with. And that full moon will bask in the reflected radiation of reflected light. It is almost as bright as daylight. Long and cold are the nights with only a few days until the longest darkness of the year appears. Brrr.     Now in the mornings when I bike to work the darkness stands out. Yes, Shanghai does have street lights and in places the lights drive the darkness into the shadows and banish it from the pavement. But most of the city turns out the lights for a few hours.
    Just like us Americans there is much misinformation out there about lights on vehicles. Because the concept of cars and illumination is still relatively new here it’s amusing to hear my Chinese colleagues talk about how running the lights on a motorcycle or moped drain the battery. Given the manner in which these are wired together there is probably a grain of truth to this assumption.
    So nighttime or early morning biking must of necessity be done with caution. In the mornings it is not too bad as when I leave, most Chinese are just getting up. But coming home in the dark is an adventure. Often I will be heading along a street only to see a moped materialize out of the darkness and heading directly for me. Compounding this invigorating moment, the side street disgorges two or three other dark bikes. At the last minute one of the riders turns on his lights. Oh did I mention that the taxi driver has only his running lights on. Anyone have a match?
    Christmas season is here and the Chinese are rapidly embracing the secular aspects of the season. Part of this is related to the increasing influence of multi-national campaigns and the relaxing of strictures about what can and what can not be promoted. So often you will see the classic Santa on the storefront with “Bless us all!” above it. Of course, the Ss are backwards and the incongruity of the message is humorous and slightly mortifying. After years of covering Christmas festivities in the South and North it is a great way to get back in touch with the real meaning of the Holiday Season. It’s a time for the coming together of family and friends; catching up on old news; laughing at the hi-jinks of the year; and wondering about the future. Sharing a meal with a new friend or a neighbor means so much more in this fertile place. To be sure, there are just as many tawdry expressions of baseless faith and foolish sayings that abound. Are you being sincere? But you find that when the comforts of home are but a small warming fire on the edges of the mind, the chance to really share the message of joy, peace, and happiness with another person brings its own sincerity.
    In working at WAGM and other stations I had to learn a lot about the concept of electricity. Most today know that it is only a matter of turning on a switch or throwing a circuit breaker to get the power we have come to rely on. But much of the infrastructure here in the older buildings is still of the fuse and fuse box variety.
    Gene Brewer and Jimmy McKinnon were just two of the engineers I worked with at WAGM. Both had an innate understanding of the dangers of controlled lightning. And there were of course the moments of sheer terror when one of the major circuit breakers blew out in the back of the building. In the movies, it always seems like a joke is written every time the mad scientist blows something up in the laboratory.
    Those of us who worked with the fuses and circuits knew it as a reality. Gradually improvements have been made and so it comes as a thrilling shock to see some of the old fuse connections still being used here and it’s really fun when they decide to wear out. Nothing like a Big Bang to get your heart pumping again.
    This was the situation yesterday when I arrived home after a day of shopping. The fuse box finally gave way. My ears are still ringing! Smoke, flames, and the unmistakable smell of fried plastic! Yahoo! The major problem: Waiting until the morning until I could dash down to the store for some circuit breakers and wires.
    My Chinese is not up to the level of telling the electrician that the fuse box has blown out and needs to be replaced. So I set out today to buy the circuit breakers and wires that were needed. Hardware stores abound in this city. Often they are throwbacks to the old general store. You walk in and instead of browsing through the piles of fascinating stuff you go see the store clerk, show him the part and let him dig it out of a pile of items around him. Finally, after much arguing, and comparing numbers the right circuit breaker is found and off you go with the most precious device ever invented — a sealed circuit breaker. A few more minutes wrestling with fused plastic and stuck screws: Finally the power is back on!
    So now, I sit with the blinking of a few Christmas lights strung up and welcoming in the heart of the winter season. Remembering my old friends and new ones I have made. In looking out the window I can see pockets of bright lights around me and somehow a sense of the vast whiteness of winter in Aroostook comes home. Say hi to your old friends, wish them well and share a memory of times past and times yet to come. Above all share the joy and and happiness a bright light brings on a cold winter night. Watch out for the moped with no lights and the snow snakes!