I can't see the stars

Hi,

As you know I go to college. Thus the campus and town are always lit with street lights. When you are walking at night this is good. You can see where you are going, others can see you, you are less likely to get attacked.

One major problem for a girl from the country: I can't see the stars. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of them. One or two at a time, not a sky full like I at home. The sky isn't even dark, it is this darker blue color. It annoys me to know end. At home I fall asleep looking out my window up into the dark sky that is framed by trees that are black in the night. The stars are brilliant. You can't help but be in love with them. As they cast their little light onto the world, the little thing that makes the night not scary.

When I was little I was afraid of the dark. To this day a dark house scares me. When I was really little it was monsters (or garden gnomes but that is a different story). When I started getting older it was the characters from those horror movies. I have never been ok after watching a scary movie. Even the mildest scare me silly. All of the horror stories happen in the dark, thus I wasn't ok with the dark. As a small child I slept, like most children, with a night light. These tiny little lights barely give off any real light, but it is just enough to see the dark outlines of the objects around you. This gives you a sense of security, for one reason or another. I believe stars are the worlds night lights. Profound I know. They allow us to see those wonderful outlines of trees, or other objects. The blanket the world with their soft glow and give us that childish sense that everything is going to be fine.

Then we as a culture noticed a lot of crime going on at night. And what is the difference between night and day? The amount of light. We no longer trusted the stars and moon, we needed more "for safety". Thus street lights came about. We lit up the night so much that the stars disappeared. Where ever there are large groups of people, their is a fear that someone is going to do something bad, and the media and movies tell us that it will be at night. So we light up the night and forget about the stars and moon. We drop the love for beauty and nature.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for safety. Like I said I too am afraid of what goes bump in the night. I am not for a street light every ten to fifteen feet. Most colleges have safe walk programs, where guys will walk you to where you need to go when it is dark so you can feel safe.

Carry a flashlight, rape whistle or pepper spray. Have a few street lights. Go ahead and have the safe walk guys. Just give me back my stars.

Winter is coming and the snow amplifies the beauty and the glisten of the stars. I can't wait for snow to come for a prolonged period of time, but I won't be able to appreciate it fully until I can see how it reacts with the stars.

Let me leave you with some star quotes:

Second star to the right, and straight on 'till morning.

Though my soul may set in darkness, It will rise in perfect light, I have loved the stars too fondly To be fearful of the night

When it is darkest, men see the stars

These earthly godfathers of Heaven's lights, that give a name to every fixed star, have no more profit of their shining nights than those that walk and know not what they are

Ta ta