Looking up the road on the street where I grew up…inside the D.C. beltway circa 1970. There was zero crime here…no traffic…no sidewalks…and tons of night time insects.Nevertheless, the county installed a street lamp on every power pole a couple years later. (The far end of the street was the location from where the 1st pic was taken…looking this way)County government coffers were so swelled with money (some things never change) that they thought dirt roads needed them, too. This road forked off to the right at the end of the above-pictured paved road…and got its lights at the same time. I guess the county wanted to give me the option of dribbling my soccer ball anytime, day or night. My parents would not have agreed. Present day. Not only did these lights put an end to the criminal ‘straw man’, but they began the long-term demise of night flying insects around there. People have no idea about the natural world. Night is day for many creatures. It’s now been 50 years of illumination (not to be confused with enlightenment) in this densely wooded area. Give a dark world back to the creatures that need it by shutting off your lights at night.
