Smith-Felver & Prime, Ltd.

Irene Met her Match with Stu Allen’s Amazing Illum-A-Window Candles

Irene blew into town. She wasn’t invited, but she came anyway.

She was rude. She turned off our lights. She melted our ice cream. She turned our yard into a mud pit. She overstayed her “un-welcome” — yet we were very lucky. Unlike many others, we got off lightly. Very, very, lightly.

Here is why… (and, oh yeah, the pun is intended!).

In the middle of Irene’s tantrum, while trying to collect matches and candles in the pitch dark, I went past the cellar door and noticed a warm glow reaching up to me from the bottom of the steps.

“What the heck is that,” I thought. “How can we have lights on in the cellar when we have no electricity?”

Something just wasn’t right. I cautiously made my way down the steps, and quite frankly, I had the willies. Boogyman fears, barely hidden under the surface despite my supposedly adult status, were kicking in. I thought, “Maybe there are monsters down there!” I considered asking Bob (my hero), if he wanted to come “help me find matches,” but courageously took two more steps.

The scene opened up halfway down the stairs and I started to laugh. There, standing like brave little soldiers, were about 25 little solar lights, glowing their hearts out. I had forgotten that I put them downstairs that morning. Irene may have caused PECO to bend to her will, but these little guys stood their ground.

Now for those of you who have no clue about solar lights, they are so much fun. You just put them out in the sun and God fills up their batteries for free! I had been hunting for two years for solar window lights and had finally found a manufacturer a few weeks previously. Made by Illum-A-Window, these are the only solar window lights on the market.

The inventor is a terrific guy named Stu Allen. I know, because I called him. You can read more about Stu and his bright little solar window candles on the website, and you can order them online too.

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering why I had my solar candles in the cellar, the answer is simple. With Irene causing the sun to hide, the Illum-A-Window batteries weren’t getting a full charge. Being impatient, I took my candles down to the cellar and arranged them around a big fat 100 watt bulb. A few hours later, we lost electricity, and that brings me back to the beginning of my story. Check out Stu’s website. He is a great guy, and his solar candles are awesome!