Last night, there was a man over the fence with the floodlights, testing some incredibly powerful flash gear. I went to go talk, and perhaps bring up the subject of the floodlights...it does turn out that he's the same man who's rented that property for nearly 10 years. He now has a live-in girlfriend, with several little rat dogs. Well, about a year ago, a coyote came over their fence from my own yard, grabbed one of the rats while they watched in horror, jumped back into my yard and went out front to consume the poor wretched creature. I have many emotions over this; not least the regret that I couldn't send over any more coyotes to eat the rest of those things.
He still works late nights, so his girlfriend is home alone with the remaining rats. She installed two 1000w quartz floods, shining UP toward MY HOUSE for some unfathomable reason, in the belief that that will keep the coyotes away. Now, if you live in an area with natural predators, floodlights don't keep them away. What keeps them away is to not raise FOOD for them in your yard. But I'm biased, since I loathe those awful little things she has, and feel guilty to be part of a species that created THAT from a wolf. Another rant for some other day. Another sad but true fact-if you live in an area with natural predators, you must accept that your pets are somewhat disposable. Don't love them less for it, just realize they may die horrible deaths at any time and accept it. Hakuna Matata and all that.
To keep a short story long, he began working a few years ago as a photographer and understands just what those lights are doing to me. (It's not just astronomy that suffered; it was never truly night.) So it seems we ought to have a lot less stray light around here.
Afterward, I spent another hour on my back, just looking at the sky again, while my camera happily clicked away...
He still works late nights, so his girlfriend is home alone with the remaining rats. She installed two 1000w quartz floods, shining UP toward MY HOUSE for some unfathomable reason, in the belief that that will keep the coyotes away. Now, if you live in an area with natural predators, floodlights don't keep them away. What keeps them away is to not raise FOOD for them in your yard. But I'm biased, since I loathe those awful little things she has, and feel guilty to be part of a species that created THAT from a wolf. Another rant for some other day. Another sad but true fact-if you live in an area with natural predators, you must accept that your pets are somewhat disposable. Don't love them less for it, just realize they may die horrible deaths at any time and accept it. Hakuna Matata and all that.
To keep a short story long, he began working a few years ago as a photographer and understands just what those lights are doing to me. (It's not just astronomy that suffered; it was never truly night.) So it seems we ought to have a lot less stray light around here.
Afterward, I spent another hour on my back, just looking at the sky again, while my camera happily clicked away...
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