November 8, 2013.

I just received my November/December issue of Orion Magazine…always a pleasurable read.  One article that particularly struck a chord with me: “Light Bandit” by Gregg Kleiner.  This piece deals with an elderly man who sets out to turn off a few streetlights in his community; first by legal means, then by illegal means undertaken in the cover of darkness.

As I sit in my office, looking out the window at the streetlights going down the road, I am reminded of a conversation that I had with a dear friend about the necessity of having so many street lights, the cost of the electricity to operate said lights, etc.  And now this article, which shares many of my feelings towards the proliferation of lights to “light up the night”.  I must confess I have had thoughts of turning a few of these lights off myself, but I’m not brave enough to don garbage can hat and sneak out into the wee smalls of the morning (also wishing to maintain a healthy dose of matrimonial peace helps).

It is unfortunate that society has developed a phobia of nature and darkness.  In days past, before my Better Half worked the evening shift at a local big box store, we used to go for a stroll in the evenings up to the local rugby clubhouse and walk the field in behind the clubhouse where the illumination of streetlights doesn’t penetrate the dark (and the field spotlights are only on during scrum nights), and listen to the sound of wind, frogs croaking in the bush, the rolling and booming of thunder one evening, the sound of bats flying overhead sounding their sonar cries in pursuit of a meal.

I often wonder, if we were able to turn off the streetlights and reacquaint ourselves with the dark, would we rediscover some form of latent spirituality and come to the realization that “all things are connected”, as has been posited by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama?  If we were to go further and turn off the television with its celebration of the latest antics of Justin Beiber, Miley Ray Cyrus or some other pop tart flavour of the moment, would we then go back to reading, learning, and (heaven forbid!) connecting with each other, and actually speaking of things and ideas of substance?

I am reminded of the few times that I have had a bonfire in the backyard; family members and friends that I have not seen in some time gravitate to the fire, have some bevvies of choice, laugh, reminisce, sometimes cry, and talk late into the night of matters both profound and plebeian.

Hum…perhaps I grow maudlin and contemplative in my old age.  Ah well, one hopes to grow wiser as the years pass.