It gets dark here. And I love it.
How dark does it get? This photo above is from a recent drive home: no street lights, no house lights, only our headlights.
I didn’t use to love the dark. When I first moved to this valley in 2010, before I met Bob, I was afraid of the dark. I lived in a rental on 10 acres with no immediate neighbors. The rental sat near the back of the property, butted up to logging land which is all trees for miles and miles. It was dark. And I was scared.
Slowly I got used to it and after only a few months, the dark was a comfort, not a concern. I took a business trip to San Francisco and I still vividly remember the drive home from the airport and the sense of relief as I left the lights behind and drove that dark, windy road.
And it is a treat to walk outside and see the stars and sometimes the Milky Way.
Now, to be honest, I get stressed when I have to go to a city or other area that is brightly lit. I feel agitated and it’s not until I get back onto a dark road headed towards home that I feel comfortable again.
We Stopped Using Outdoor Lights
We appreciate the dark so much that we limit our use of outdoor lights. Well, the people across the street have their property lit up like an airfield, so we don’t even need outdoor lighting, sadly. But we only have twinkly lights on the front porch that shine for a couple of hours in the evening (on a timer), and we only use other outdoor lighting if we will get home after dark. Other than that, it’s literally lights out around here, with no outside lights on at the house, garage or barn.
And Another Reason to Love the Dark…
Yes, I learned to love the dark when I moved to this valley, and Bob now shares that love of the dark. But these days we love the dark for a whole new reason: because the book Nature’s Best Hope taught us the importance of darkness to insects and therefore ecosystems. (Please read the book so I don’t have to bore you with my sorry paraphrasing here.)
And now I am reading The Darkness Manifesto, so I am getting even more committed to the dark. I stopped using outdoor lights, but I’d have plenty of lights blaring inside. Bob would laugh at me because I’d walk into our dark farmhouse and switch on light after light after light.
Now I am trying to get used to keeping the house a little darker too. Do I need all of the living room lights on if I am in the kitchen cooking? No, I don’t.
For an overview of The Darkness Manifesto, here’s a 4-minute overview by the author.
Bats! One of the Best Reasons to Love the Dark?
Finally, I learned to love the dark because I love bats, and our farm has them! One of the most peaceful things I can do at the end of a busy day is to sit outside and watch them, as in this TikTok video. And I can do that because of the dark.
Okay, So Why Does This Matter?
The darkness matters for several reasons. One, it is better for the insects and plants, and therefore our planet. That is–in my opinion–the most important reason. (See the books above for more on that.)
It is also better for us as humans. We are made to follow natural rhythms that are messed with by all the artificial lighting. We can be healthier and sleep better with less light, more dark.
Maybe we can all learn to love the dark?
And that’s enough for now…