By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Dowagiac Daily News
EDWARDSBURG - Their 36 days in the dark is over. The electricity was restored Thursday at David and Cara Ball's house on Martin Road in Edwardsburg, after they completed their Midwest Energy Challenge.
You have to be organized and pump the water to put on the stove to heat in the morning, he added.
At night, he said, he found he had chores to do before he went to work.
The worst was having to pump water by hand.
One trick to save on pumping will become a permanent transition.
They collected rain water from the down spouts to water their indoor and porch plants. It is even better for them, he added.
They will also be selective about which electric appliances to pull out of his son's bedroom. They now enjoy having more counter space.
The blender, though, for margaritas, comes back out, he said.
It was a shock when the phone rang for the first time in 36 days. Who called? “I didn't answer it, David said.
Cara was excited to download all her email. “This is going to take all day,” she added. But having no tv was “a good thing,” she said. She did some painting, a sculptor, painted three signs and added David roto tilled the garden for the first time in eight years.
Probably the most inconvenient was having to get ice to keep their groceries cool.
Being too cold though was a problem for sleeping. Without electricity they couldn't sleep on their water bed, even with extra blankets. “We tried, but ended up on the floor on a pad,” they said.
In fact, they even had a fire in their wood stove one day to dry out the house.
With only oil lamps and candles, on days with little sun, Cara found the house a bit depressing. “It's not the same kind of light,” she said. “I went to Barnes and Nobles not for coffee - to read.”
David on the other hand found it southing after being under fluorescent at work. “If we ever build, we will add solar tubes,” he said.
This is the second year the cooperative offered the challenge. “We will evaluate whether to do it again next year,” she said.
Nowlin said the unique contest has sparked interest in other cooperatives, which may be copying the one based in Cassopolis.
Since some coffee costs more than a day's worth of electricity, the Starbucks challenge was used, which in turn gave the Balls a basket of the coffee and cups, along with their $1,000 for completing the number of days they bid they could go without electricity.