"Pick a Word, Paint a Story #23"

Hello friends welcome to my blog

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Today my choice of pick a word, paint a story is Lantern. I have known a lantern to be used as a source of light in the dark. These days, there are different fancy lanterns; some are rechargeable, while some use batteries. But what rings in my head whenever I hear the word Lantern is the old local lantern that uses oil (Kerosene).

So today, my emphasis will be on the old, local, traditional lantern. I have lots of memories of it. When I was young, we used this lantern in my house whenever there was a power outage. This Lantern is made of metal, with a globe-shaped glass in the middle, which protects the flame. It also has an abit thick thread. This thread burns as it has been soaked in kerosene. The lower chamber of the lantern is where the kerosene is poured in; it has a small opening with a cover on the side where the oil(Kerosene) is poured in. The local Lantern was well constructed.

The era of the traditional Lantern was fun, it shines brighter as it has been placed in a position where the light reflects in the whole house. I could remember my mum would also ask whoever was handling the lantern to check if there was still enough kerosene before lighting it. You also notice that if the kerosene is not enough, the light does not shine bright enough but is dim.

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Then, my elderly sibling was the one allowed to handle the Lantern. I watched them wash the globe with clean water when it's dirty and whoever does that applies care and patience so it doesn't break. After that, a clean towel is used to wipe it dry before it's fixed into the lantern carefully. Carefulness is also applied when lighting it, too, with a matchbox or lighter. I wanted to try all that, but was not allowed because I was younger then.

However, when I grew older, I was allowed to do all that, and it was a nice experience using the traditional lantern. But I think it has phased out now, I only see such a lantern in the village. I remembered travelling with my kids to the village, when they saw the lantern, they asked me what it was and I began explaining it to them, how it worked and what it was used for.

I could also remember back then in my village when I went to spend some time with my grandmother, I was a child then and would play with other kids into the night, and my grandma would come with her lantern to look for me. Once I saw her coming with her lantern, I knew it was time to go home for the day.

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Nevertheless, the modern lanterns are great and fanciful, serving the same purpose of giving light where there is a power outage. It does not need that much care, such as regular cleaning of the globe, refilling oil(Kerosene), changing old threads if the old ones are shortened and so on. It only requires recharging and change of new batteries when the old ones are weak or bad.

These days, I have noticed that these traditional old lanterns are used for decoration in homes, used in drama theatres, and also give a traditional look and bring back old memories.

I invite @gracyc, @chommygift and @bela90