Hilary and other Windy City-ites…

[hilary1617]

At least they turn out the lights at 11PM. Two of our neighbors leave theirs on all night long.

Yikes!

 

[southernlady]

Yikes!

I hate it.

 

[JackieOnLine]

light pollution is a thing

sigh.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Yikes!

Oops! I may be guilty of that, a little.

We have Ring alarms (not the doorbell variety) that let us know when interlopers approach. The front porch alarm‘s floodlight‘s “range” includes one bedroom at our easterly neighbor’s house. I’ve wondered if it’s better to leave the light ON, or to have its brilliance turned on and off every time a moth or June bug or spider enters and leaves its visual range.

Our Ring Floodlight on the garage does a similar, but lesser, thing to another window. BUT…the have a lovely lemon tree, that provided a strong light filter AND provided us with free . But the grandma decided that their lemon tree branches bothered us (they did not) and had her SIL hack the tree down to about 6’ tall. NOW the light can bother them.

The Ring on the patio points toward our house, not our westerly neighbors’ home.

Partial self-defense? Our visual acuity was limited…his due to cataracts, mine due to I’ve never had good vision in dark areas. One goofy optometrist said it’s because I’m a Capricorn.

 

[southernlady]

The previous owner had a floodlight above the garage that faced our neighbors across the street. We don’t use that floodlight. One day, they thanked Charles for not using it. Apparently it bothered them.

 

[hilary1617]

Security is one thing. Our neighbors put spotlights on the individual trees which are away from their house but near ours because they want to be able to show off their view of "nature" (i.e. my backyard and our shared ravine) to their guests when they are out on their deck. Only they rarely use the deck and two of the lights provide enough lumens for me to read when in bed early.... Sure, we could move to black out curtains, but that defeats the point of our floor to ceiling windows overlooking a private ravine. (There's no way to see into our bedroom unless trespassing on our property).

 

[southernlady]

Security is one thing. Our neighbors put spotlights on the individual trees which are away from their house but near ours because they want to be able to show off their view of "nature" (i.e. my backyard and our shared ravine) to their guests when they are out on their deck. Only they rarely use the deck and two of the lights provide enough lumens for me to read when in bed early.... Sure, we could move to black out curtains, but that defeats the point of our floor to ceiling windows overlooking a private ravine. (There's no way to see into our bedroom unless trespassing on our property).

That’s the excuse the woman across the street is using to keep hers on all damned night. I mentioned to her husband, could they possibly put a timer on them to turn them off at midnight. He said she wanted to see the deer, etc. oh well.

 

[JackieOnLine]

light pollution is bad!

the excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light, is affecting human health, wildlife behavior, and our ability to observe stars and other celestial objects.

from National Geographic, link if you want more.

outside the shoebox apartment I live in is a very bright light that goes on at night and off in the morning with no way for me to control it. I'm considering covering it with duct tape. it is always on the same schedule summer and winter and not going on by sensing darkness. sigh.

I mean, I want it there for going up and down the stairs out there in the dark but that's like 2% of the time.

I was just reading at darksky.org and found an article about lighting not making things safer at night including this:

The truth is bad outdoor lighting can decrease safety by making victims and property easier to see.

 

[southernlady]

I’ve been in areas with no light pollution and it was great. I‘m not against an occasional street light but good grief, lighting up your entire yard is unacceptable. We have the neighbor across the street that does it. And the one right next door.

 

[navygrrl]

I love the colors you've chosen.

Alas, I am not married to a Charles, but I'm okay with that.

 

[southernlady]

Alas, I am not married to a Charles, but I'm okay with that.

We hadn’t planned on so many of us having a Charles.