The Pipes

The early 20th century saw the development and widespread implementation of electrical systems in the United States. As electrical power generation and distribution systems became more efficient and reliable, cities and towns rapidly adopted electricity for lighting, powering appliances, and running industrial machinery.

The electrification of urban areas led to safer and more convenient living conditions, with electric lighting replacing gas lamps and electric streetcars replacing horse-drawn carriages. This improved the speed and efficiency of transportation and reduced pollution.

In the early 19th century, Michael Faraday, an English scientist, made fundamental contributions to the understanding of electromagnetism. His experiments with both electric and magnetic fields led to the development of Faraday's Law of electromagnetic induction, which states that a changing magnetic field creates an electric current in a conductive surface. Conductive metals, like copper, are commonly used to transmit electricity throughout structures.

Faraday's work laid the foundation for the development of electric generators and transformers, forming the basis of modern power generation and distribution.

About this photo.

This is an intersection of two alleyways behind the main drag in Winter Garden, FL. That may be where it is, but I have no idea what’s pictured here. I’m pretty sure the circular bits are measuring the resources flowing through the bigger boxes, but your guess, or educated analysis if you have it, is probably better than mine. It was a cloudy day, and I loved how they were lit so delicately.

In my brief (very brief) readings about electrical systems, they all kept referring to objects like those pictured here in relation to “the grid”. That’s an even trickier concept for you. Thinking about how these things work seems hard until you try and figure out how it all fits together - it’s nearly impossible.

I kept thinking back to elementary school and learning about the water cycle. Condensation, evaporation, and what not. There was a moment in the lesson - or it might have been a video I watched, it’s all condensing together - where they show some stick figures in a house next to a running faucet. The faucet is shown connected to a reservoir, and arrows slide down the slopes of mountains explaining how water gets there. Happy little water drops in their happy little cups filled from happy little pipes. We were probably getting tested on the vocabulary, but I remember feeling like we skipped over the most important part: some system exists that moves the water from wherever it is to my house. Excuse me? The whole get-from-the-ground-to-my-faucet step seems more important.

Electricity isn’t all that different. It can’t be. Whether it’s electricity, water, spam, or a rock from a catapult, it has to actually get to you to be of any importance. There’s likely some facility near you, surrounded by barbed wire with signs that look like a Kraftwerk album cover. That facility contains some weird sculptures, and those sculptures are humming and thrumming with the stuff that makes sure the lights, tv, air conditioning, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, phone charger, laptop charger, vacuum cleaner, microwave, stove, oven, and refrigerator all do something when switched to “on”. And the stuff that does that gets from there to here somehow? Unreal.

I get that there’s explanations for all this, and there’s people who work very hard to make sure this thing works. It’s the fact that it does work at all that seems like a miracle. The simplified descriptions and visual diagrams make the whole thing seem condescending and participatory, like you’re doing something noble in a wonderful electric community just by being the end user. You turn on your blender, and a giant light bulb with eyes gives you a wink and then his filament (intestine?) twists into a thumbs up. Thanks for doing your part, citizen.

Don’t get me wrong; I still like having electricity. I recognize that this piece has probably made me come off like a lunatic about to depart for the deep woods of Montana. Quite the opposite - I still need somewhere to charge my camera batteries.

Here’s my point: Innovations and new technology do change the quality of lives we lead - generally for the better. The fact that I am able to goof around here and you are able to read it means we share some immense privileges based on where and when we live. What’s interesting about it all is how inevitable and involuntary it feels sometimes. The days flow like ink and we don’t even realize how much has been written, or what it even says, until we turn back and see what’s there. What’s new and what’s important becomes a sort of punctuation, altering meaning and changing the structure.

We can’t undo the any of it either. It stays flowing and the changes mount. My life is different from that of my grandparents because it had to be, and my hypothetical grandchildren’s lives will be different because they must be. Call it progress, change, evolution, the sands of time, divine intervention, or the simulation installing new firmware, it all points in one direction. We’re just watching it pass. The electricity flows towards us, through us, and then finally, away from us.

Thank you for your time.

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