Not merely a flashlight, but a lantern; thanks Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum!
I’ve been accused of spending lavishly on (many) flashlights and headlamps, but when the power went out twice in Toronto’s west-end this past February, I could see everyone in the family appreciated the high quality lighting. And so today, when I came across this beaut, I felt a bit teary eyed thinking of all the rusty contacts I sanded, intermittent switches, burned light bulbs and weak, acid leaking batteries I tested with my tongue as a kid.
Making light is a wonderful thing and so it seems right that we pause and thank the torch with an Ode to the Flashlight by Vinny Casso:
A greater literary talent might write
“It was a dark and stormy night.”
For that it was. Ah, well I remember–
Twas the second week in a bleak December.
Odd that I recall the date with such clarity.
(Apologies to Poe for any similarity.)
The winds were howling. My cats tried to hide.
Garbage cans rolled in the lot outside.
The windows rattled. The storm doors shook.
I turned on the TV and put down my book.
I was wrapped in my afghan as snug as could be
while a little pink bunny marched across the TV.
It must have been close to eleven o’clock
when the transformer blew on a pole down the block.
The night went black with a thunderous boom.
My only flashlight was in an upstairs room.
Twas black as the proverbial Halloween cat.
(Being afraid of the dark, I couldn’t have that!)
So, I groped and crawled my way up the stairs
with choked-back terror, a few muttered prayers.
Then tripped near a wall-shelf beside my bed.
The flashlight toppled and struck my head.
Still, that was OK; I had injured myself,
but at least I could now find the medicine shelf!
So, bandaged and shaken, my stomach now churning,
I settled in bed with my flashlight still burning.
I hoped the bunny on TV was right.
And he was. It burned the rest of the night.
So, in retrospect, I later decided
to honor the comfort my flashlight provided.
Something light-hearted. (Please pardon the pun.)
But ‘You light up my life’ has already been done;
So, with apologies to Keats, Longfellow and Plath,
little blue flashlight, YOU LIGHT UP MY PATH!
A retrospective: A thing of beauty, the Delta Powertop Lantern.