BATTERY OPERATED

One morning when we awoke to play golf, the coffe pot, which had been set to come on at six o'clock in the morning had been shut off during the night as well as the other clocks. The electricity had gone off during th night, so everything went off for a few seconds or minutes. I called the electric company, Duke Energy, as this had happened several times, with no storm or hurricanes. They drilled me on exactly what had happened. I relayed my story to two individuals. They said they could see nothing wrong but would send someone in the morning to check. At five o'clock in the evening a Duke Energy repairman appeared, I said, "Good Morning". He apologized. Said he had checked and there was no problem to be found. A few days later, a female called me from the Duke Energy Office, inquiring about the power outage. Again, I retold my story of the power just going out at night between midnight and six in the morning and shutting everything off.  She said they did not find a problem, so she suggested that I get a battery back-up. I laughed and said, "That's why I'm paying these expensive Duke Energy bills, so I can have a battery back-up when there is no storm?" Yes, that was her suggestion. With that I hung up and remembered living in those days when we had no electricity. Everything was battery operated or kerosene for lights.

At first my family had a small table model battery operated radio, but when my brothers went into the service in World War II, my parents got a big floor model radio which took one huge battery. The reception was better and they listened to the news every night to try and find out where my brothers were serving. They listened to the news on WLW in Cincinnati, as well as WJJD, I believe, in Chicago, and WHAS in Louisville. We were told to be quite when the news was on. Our brothers were not allowed to tell where they were but by listening to the news and knowing what batillion they were with, gave my parents a good idea of there whereabouts. One evening I was making a lot of noise, arguing with my sister, Lorena or playing with my dog too loudly, and my dad threatened to whip me if I didn't quite down so he could hear the news. Often the stations were very staticy because of being so far away as well as the poor reception.

The radios were good entertainment. We listened to the "Mid-Day Merry-Go Round" from Knoxville TN each day. We listened to "The Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville on Saturday nights. We listened to some comical shows, such as "Lum And Abner".  We had to be careful and not waste the battery too much. Therefore our programs were selective. Mom and Dad listened tosome gospel music in the mornings.

We also had battery powered flash lights. But if we were on a walk to our grandmothers or friends at night we would use a lantern powered by kerosene. Our lights for reading were kerosene powered. My mom had a special lamp which gave more light than normal that she used for quilting and sewing. Those days seems remote and unmodern but they were fun and I am glad I have experienced them. I don't want to go back to those battery powered days, so I hope Duke Energy gets their wires straightened out soon.