The Cedarville Review 2020

PROSE | 33 absence results in danger and utter chaos, yet it has been cheapened to an overrated wed- ding dance. The Law of conservation of electric charge states that a net electric charge cannot be created. Instead, only existing charge can move from one place to another. Another rea- son why electricity is the most versatile energy source on the planet. However, humanity has depended on it for only the last century or so. 4. “Cutnies,” that’s what my dad called wires as a child. My Nana, much to her bewilderment, walked in on my dad taking apart outlets at five years old to show his younger brothers these magical tubules. To him, they were marvelous; the red and blue wires seemed endless. Even from early childhood, his future occupation captivated his curiosity. It’s his first love. As much as he dreads the people politics of his job, he is the happiest person on the planet while talking on the phone with my mother during his lunch break. 5. He has taught me about love and death and life and how to stay alive as long as pos- sible. During accidental electrocution, the electrical current surging through the body causes muscles to contract so much so that the individual is unable to let go of the source of electricity (yet another metaphor for love). On the bright side, a person’s brain can conduct 200 watts of electricity which equates to that of an average light bulb. Whether that makes hu- manity bright or particularly dull is subjective. 6. Many of our “father-daughter” dates con- sisted of my trying to gaze intently on nearby power lines while he converts amperes to volts to explain how much power is needed to run the house that catty corners Owowcow, my favorite ice cream shop. He explains the dif- ference between copper, gold, and aluminum wires (gold wires are the best for conducting, due to their corrosion resistance). 7. When I was in fourth grade, he visited my class as a guest speaker to talk about electricity. He beamed when he looked at his daughter. He talked about electrical safety and how he has been at a job site where a young appren- tice made a mistake and was electrocuted. He refused to describe what the body looked like,