I finished reading The End Of Night; Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard. Folks on the BWCA trip recommended the book. I requested it from the library and when I picked it up I wondered how a 270 page book on artificial light could possibly hold my interest, but it did. Simply put, it addresses light pollution and it’s affect on our planet, our bodies, our lives. It was written in 2013…who knew there are groups out there advocating for better type of lighting in our cities (all over the world) so we don’t “drowned out” the Milky Way?
I started reading the book at the cabin up on the north shore. While having a campfire on the rocks our last evening, the sky was clear. It was a new moon, therefore there was no light competition for the stars. I have always paid attention to the phases of the moon, especially when we go up north. After the campfire I suggested we get in the car and drive to the top of the hill on Sawbill Trail and turn out the car lights to stargaze. We did. On the hill we were far away from artificial light: no city lights, no cabin lights, no headlights…and it was spectacular to see the beautiful dome of stars.
In church recently I talked with a woman who had just returned from “up north” and mentioned how her young son was amazed to see so many stars in the night sky, unlike what he sees at home. This is one reason of concern in the book.
Reading the book brought back a couple of memories. One evening, when our boys were younger, we were camping in northern MN with two other families. The air was still and the sky was clear. After dark, we all hiked to the small lake in the campground and saw the stars reflecting in the calm, unruffled water. It was a stunning scene and one I have thought of several times through the years.
Another special outdoor, nighttime memory is walking with a friend when the moon was full. At first we joined organized hikes with a naturalist, but after a few months we just started walking on our own on nights when the sky was clear and the moon was full. It was great and we had enough light from the moon to walk the path without flashlights.
I love light, as most people do, but this book gave me a new appreciation for our need for darkness too, and for our wonderful, magnificent night sky.
My son, too, has the same appreciation for the darkness of my native southwestern Minnesota prairie. When he was still in high school and we would visit family back home, he always took time to step outdoors in the night to observe the stars, star chart in hand.
He might enjoy the book. I bet he loves looking at the night sky when he’s home for a visit…there is a lot of light in the sky near Boston I bet.
Valerie, Thank you got sharing your breathtaking photo AND for the perspective of this book. I was recently sharing with Kim that when all the lights are turned off in our little home here… well, that’s when all the lights to our electronics and fire alarms and clocks on the stove and light switches and computers if they are plugged in shine so brightly in the house and how I miss natural dark at night!!! Now that it gets dark by 8 pm here… perhaps if I take a drive out to the ocean, maybe I’ll get to experience what you have Up North!?
If you take a drive out to the ocean at night I want to hear all about it! 😉
Maybe someday I’ll go with you.