Harvesting the Sun, Son

When I moved into our flat, I was surprised to see there was a switch on the wall to turn on the hot water.  A bit later, I discovered that on the top of our building was a little patio area with a solar hot water heater and a solar clothes dryer.  The solar clothes dryer wasn’t as impressive as it is merely an umbrella-style clothes line.  But the solar hot water heater was impressive, and the water is very hot in the late PM, early evening.

The sun here is quite bright, reminiscent of Andrew’s home in Arizona.  In the shade it is nice and there is commonly a breeze, but in the direct sun, look out!

So, solar hot water makes a lot of sense here, as does the little elevated patio area.  Electricity in Botswana is purchased from South Africa, so it is in short supply as both nations develop into energy-hungry economies.  Sunshine is NOT in short supply.

Of course, every up has a down, and with solar hot water, the downside is that each morning, the water isn’t very hot after a cool night of darkness.  And of course, the expense of building and installing the solar heat collectors.

We forget the downside of many things.  In church we have been reading about Gideon in Judges.  Gideon had a tremendous military victory.  Following the victory his pride got the most of him, and he wound up messing up himself and Israel.  Read about it in Judges 8:22-35.

I think it was St Augustine who said, “For every 10 men who can withstand poverty, only one can withstand wealth!

Be careful what you seek, I know I am not one who can withstand wealth, and likely you aren’t either!