“So, basically, hydroelectricity is basically a big water outlet, working the other way.”
Eleven-year-old Velma Trent was explaining the concept to her little siblings nine-year-old Milton and eight-year-old Gracie as they were getting ready for dinner.
“So, there's these turbines,” she said. “They're like pinwheels for work – and what they do is run water through a dam or a river through the turbines, and collect the energy the turbines turning creates – that's the electricity that then comes to our houses through the outlets.”
“So, wait,” Milton said. “You basically use water through a pinwheel, and it makes electricity?”
“Well, they're bigger than that, and stronger, and you gotta connect them to a battery and some lines to carry all the electricity,” Velma said.
“I was about to say,” Gracie said, “because the other way I could go to the bathroom or kitchen real quick and bring the electric bill down, but I don't know what that would do for the water bill.”
“Uh, hydroelectricity is kinda the poster child for 'don't try this at home,'” Velma said.
“Yeah, but, we've got batteries and extension cords and can tie it all up to the circuit breakers,” Milton said.
“But that's the other thing,” Velma said. “Water and electricity get along outdoors like rain and lightning do, but indoors they get cranky and don't want to be together, so they will kill you for doing that and probably burn down your whole house.”
Gracie and Milton looked at each other.
“I was about to say how nice it would be to have a faucet that said, 'Hot, Cold, and Electric,' but, never mind,” Milton said.
“Ain't it the truth,” Gracie said. “It's like that thing in Shakespeare – they were supposed to read the script ahead of time and know that it's March 16 and you can't have that Julius Caesar guy in there with Brutus and the rest, but they keep not reading the script and they keep letting that man die. We're not not trying to do that here.”
“Nope,” Milton and Velma said.
“When you know better, you do better,” Velma said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Thomas Stepforth Sr. was trying not to roll laughing before he put all the extension cords and batteries up much, much higher!
