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March 29, 2010
There's No Blessing to Be Had from Darkness
Why not turn the streetlights off as well?No, no, it’s not the useful safety-oriented lights to which people object; it’s only the conspicuous boastful wastes of electricity that do nothing but make things look lovely, and carve a big space out of the black that says WE ARE HERE AND WE BUILT THIS. I had a conversation last year with someone who became angry to the point of SHOUTING that illuminated skyscrapers summed up everything that was wrong with America; I tend to think not, and there’s not much one can do to reconcile the positions.
Tonight I strung lights around the newly braced gazebo, ran cords, turned on the garden lighting for the first time since the sad disconnect that follows the first snow. Soft pools of light in the backyard now, with one spotlight interrogating the spot where the water will shoot up when I start the Oak Island Water Feature. The backyard is best at night – it’s a stage, a set, a place of shadows and simple mysteries. It may be an overreaction to curse the darkness, but I’ve no time for those who want to bless it, either. -- James Lileks, Monday, March 29
Posted by Vanderleun at March 29, 2010 2:19 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
I disagree with the premise in the title of the OP. There are many blessings to be had from darkness. I don't know about you, but I haven't properly seen the stars for many years - and I live in quite a small town. if you live in the centre of NYC or London, you would be lucky to be able to make out the Plough (Big Dipper to you Americans) or the belt of Orion, and that is a shame.
Taken to extremes, too much light makes it difficult to sleep properly, too.
Posted by: Fletcher Christian at March 29, 2010 12:49 PM
By all means, turn off the streetlights. We can put up torches instead, fueled by the liposucted fat of all those celebrities who helped clamor for this imbecillic nonsense.
Posted by: Don Rodrigo at March 29, 2010 1:00 PM
Not quite the darkness I had in mind, Fletcher.
Posted by: vanderleun at March 29, 2010 3:25 PM