Car trip thoughts
It’s a long drive from FortWorth to Santa Fe and back, and my family was dreading the trip. Only the ideaof family, Santa Fe, and skiing made them even consider it. However, I lookedforward to parts of it. When you leave Amarillo, headed west on Hwy. 40, pastVega, Texas suddenly you leave prairie behind you. The land butts up in strangeoutcroppings, as though it were anticipating the buttes and mesas of NewMexico.
And then suddenly, you are inNew Mexico where the land changes rapidly. It’s flat up close, with scrub brushdotting what look like pastures. I’m no botanist, but it looks like creosoteand mesquite, though not the feathery large mesquite we get in Texas. In thedistance, beyond the open land are the strange, stark shapes of mesas andbuttes. The whole landscape is so different from Texas that it draws me in,perhaps in anticipation. We turn north at Klines Corner and after a bit on thatroad, the landscape changes again. The once-straight road twists and turns inhills, and mountains appear in the distance. I love it all, perhaps because Iam always happy and “at home” in Santa Fe. It is for me, a place of many goodmemories
But then, too soon, comes thereturn trip home. Once past Amarillo, you begin that long stretch of smalltowns leading to Wichita Falls. If you’ve traveled that road often enough, youcan click those towns off in memory. By Claude, the first town, I sort of letout a sigh and think, “We’re home. We’re back in Texas.”
For us this week, we made itto Wichita Falls in daylight, so I had a chance to study the towns. In mosttowns the highway bypasses the town, so you don’t really see it. Memphis forinstance has town on one side and railroad tracks on the other. Once a friendand I deliberately left the highway and explored each town, sometimes stoppingat junk stores, other times just imagining what life in, say Quanah, would belike. The five-hour drive took us almost ten, but it was a wonderfulexperience.
This time, as we barreledthrough, intent on making time, my first thought was that the small town inTexas is alive and well, albeit a bit shabby and in need of several coats ofpaint. Still, when we hear about young people leaving the small towns of theiryouth and the subsequent death of those towns, it was reassuring to see thatlife stll seems to be going forward in places like Clarendon and Chillicotheand Vernon.
By Wichita Falls, dark wasclosing in, and as we angled southeast to Fort Worth, I noticed how brightlylit the towns are. Some lighting is decorative (no, it was not all Christmaslights), some is for security with lots of floodlights, too much is neon advertising.All of it is bright, and as a result you can see towns glowing from miles away.Up close the effect is almost blinding in some cases. I had the same thought Ioften have in my own backyard: could we tone it down a little and still besafe?
Studies have shown thatexcessive light disturbs the circadian rhythms (24-hour internal clock) ofbirds and other wildlife, altering their physiology and behavior because theyare no longer able to distinguish day from night. An appalling number of birdsdie each year because they fly into well-lit skyscrapers. Light pollution, orthe excessive us of artificial light, can even effect human health andwell-being, with some studies linking it to various forms of cancer. Withexcessive light, our eyes lose the ability to adjust to darkness. In a city,for example, we can no longer see the stars in the night sky because our visionis impaired by excessive light. All that lighting costs money and energy andcontributes to climate change.
What can we do? Use motion sensors, dimmers, and timers. UseLED lights but only in warm tones, never blue, and lower the wattage. Use fixturesthat direct light downward, never up nor over a wide expanse.
I’m sure the folks inHenrietta and Bowie and Decatur are relieved that I didn’t have time to stopand educate them about light pollution, but it is a problem too few know about.At home, I struggle with it, because our neighborhood has “night visitors” andI want outdoor lights for security. But my conscience bothers me. We hope toput in some downward lighting in trees and along a walkway which will enable usto eliminate some flood lights.
It was an interesting drive,but as you can imagine, I was glad to get home.
Photo from citiesatnght.org
