A couple nights ago was supposed to be the best night to see the Perseid Meteor Showers. I had gone to bed before 9 p.m. but when Rose came up and crawled in with me around 10, suddenly I leapt out of bed and said "tonight's the night for the meteor showers. Let's drive out to the country!" The kids and dad were up for it, tired as we were, so we hopped in the Subaru and drove about ten miles out of town. We pulled onto a country road and George and I lay on the hood of the car while the sleepy kids stretched out in the backseat. Unfortunately, after about 1/2 an hour of trying to keep our eyes open we hadn't seen much. It was too early, I think. Elijah said he saw "one" but the rest of us didn't so we gave up and drove home.
Before leaving the house, Eli innocently asked "if they know this is the night, why don't they turn the streetlights out?" Good question. Why don't "they"?
I love our neighborhood, our place in a little city, but one of the things that makes me long for a country home most is the darkness out there. I really hate streetlights that shine indiscriminately upward, and all the lights that we leave on all night. I know others want them for safety, and perhaps we need them, but gosh I'd love to look out above my backyard and see all the stars in the heavens better. I haven't joined a Campaign for Dark Skies like the one in Britain or Flagstaff, AZ, but I'm thinking on it...
Comments
i don't have the exact reference, but somewhere out there is a study that shows that dimming or turning off streetlights have no effect on increasing crime.
Tucson, AZ had a low light policy for the airbase and telescope on A mtn. Personally, I think lowering the lights makes seeing in the dark easier. It exercises the eyes (whereas lighting the night makes them lazy).
It also really bugs me how much all the articifical lighting wreaks havoc with women's menstrual cycles. This can't be good, and I know has something to do with fertility problems (of course there are other factors, too).
I think less lighting in general is something I need to do some more thinking about. I can understand your move to the country because of it! My husband, who grew up in the country, really really can't stand the streetlights in the bedroom window. It's taken him years to get used to that and be able to sleep okay.
And yes, mnultraguy, we should start a Campaign for Dark Skies in Minnesota. I know I have a neighbor who has wanted to do that. She's quite an activist in general. But who has time for activism?!
Lisa
We lived on a little farm in Moab once and our neighbor had a sodium vapor yard light that was so aweful - it blinded us walking through the house at night.
Some folks but up a second house out there (much fancier than the homes people lived in) and were confused that we objected when they shone floodlights to light up a canyon wall at night.