Flickering

There. All I did was describe what they often do, and you KNEW I was talking about candles!! ...unless you thought I referred to some random technological gadget... No matter! The topic of the day is candles.

Isn't it amazing how the quality of light, and amount of smoke a candle creates can vary so much? And the length of the wick beyond the top of the candle both determines how BIG the flame will be, and how fast the candle will burn down! Finally-- technology I can understand! I can use all sorts of technology with no problem. I can even learn a new computer program without instruction or read the directions on a new gadget and use it with confidence... but that doesn't mean that I actually understand what's going on, or how A+B goes about always equalling C. But candles? Those I can really comprehend.

I actually found a candle recently that burns clean, has no smell, gives off a very reliable steady light, is supposed to last for 56 hours (I've burned it for about a total of 10 hours so far, I think, and its not much shorter than when I bought it.)... it's a gorgeous not-quite-white so I really love looking at both the flame and the candle together... and it only cost $7. Wow. Now THAT is affordable technology!

There are candles collecting dust on my shelves that cost a lot more than $7, and had all sorts of great selling features when I bought them... but there they are... collecting dust. And its not just that I'm an infrequent candle-burner, either. I've lit a candle almost every day (or two or three) since I put up my first Christmas lights at Thanksgiving... and a few times even before that. I'm more of a seasonal candle-burner. Adding more heat to a stifling room in August just doesn't appeal to me somehow...

The thing is that it has taken me this long to find a candle I really like. I've found candles I really liked for a day or two... but because I liked them so much when I found them, I bought big ones, and they definitely were built to last for more than a day or two. Unfortunately, the candle's appeal didn't last that long. I wish there was a candle-recycling program. Wax is a very reusable substance, and I just can't bring myself to THROW OUT a 2/3 burned candle. I can't even regift it! What a waste of a perfectly good resource. But candles aren't something that the commercial industry thinks anyone would buy used, and apparently they don't do enough damage to the environment to warrant sorting them out of landfills or giving them their own bin at the recycling centers I've visited.

I guess the good news is that with enough preparation, research, unused wicks, as well as free time and creativity, we can recycle our own half-used candles. Melt them down in a double boiler, roll new ones in wax paper with a brand new wick at the center, and let them cool. There you have it. Perfectly good unused candles. Of course, mine would be brown. I've got red and green and white and blue and probably variations of each color... and most of them have a scent. That seems to be what draws me to candles initially... and why I'm so happy to continue using my $7 unscented candle over and over again now while the other candles go on collecting dust. What would pomegranate and evergreen smell like, mixed with "fresh linen," for example? It worries me.

What if the combination I come up with is even less appealing than the original ones I started with? What if re-melting the wax makes the scent STRONGER?? What if I get done making the candles, and the wicks just FALL OUT??? I'm telling you, technology still has the power to make me nervous. If you enjoy living on the edge, taking risks, destroying the old and creating something totally new out of the ashes, let me know. I've got a box full of half-burned candles on the bottom shelf, and they're not going anywhere.