// For the Holidays
Posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Tomorrow is Christmas eve, and this time of year usually makes me more vulnerable to feeling warm and fuzzy all over at the slightest thing. The effect is somewhat lessened this year, since it’s my first Christmas without snow and with palm trees, but lights and glittery wrapping paper and tv Christmas specials are enough to get me at least partially in the holiday spirit.
This tendency toward the warm and fuzzy is what’s driving me to feel all gooey over this video. It’s just some kids pedaling to power Christmas lights, but it still gets to me. Of course we’ve all seen bike-powered generators powering everything from tv’s, to amps for electric guitars, to blenders for margaritas. Those things are cool, and interesting, and carbon-less, it’s true. But these kids are not only cool, interesting, and carbon-free, but also learning about environmentalism, global warming, the science behind wattage and amperes, the math needed to understand the science, the importance of exercise, and they’re spreading holiday cheer while they learn! Makes you kind of happy, right?