Our modern world has deprived many of seeing and interacting with Nature. They live their lives around a 24 hour clock, never taking the time for the natural pauses between night and day; but Nature has provided us with night time for a reason. City dwellers know nothing of the night sky. It is completely blotted out by the abundance of artificial light, in street lamps, on houses, on buildings, and in parking lots. They speed from place to place on highways where traffic remains as heavy at night, as during the day. They have no understanding of the detrimental effects that so much light pollution has on other species. Children grow up seeing animals in zoos, which is not really seeing them at all. Locked into the bright, noisy city life, these people are unable to understand the natural world.
My oldest daughter and son-in-law recently bought property outside of the city, where a light curfew has been implemented. Never having had the opportunity to see the stars before, they were blown away by the sheer numbers of them that fill the night sky. They were equally thrilled by the numerous hummingbirds that could be heard and seen during the warmer months. Their property is in an area where I had spent many summers as a young girl, with my grandparents. My grandmother had several hummingbird feeders hung from the roof eaves surrounding her house. Birds, wildflowers, tranquil silence, and the night sky are something that I have had the privilege of knowing.
Those of us who have seen and had intimate experience with Nature want to protect our planet. Millions of nonprofits attempt to reach the hearts of people, in order to alleviate suffering that has been caused to so many other species. The problem is that many city dwellers remain ignorant of the damage that has been done to the earth. They have never experienced Nature first hand. We need to bring Nature back into the city. We must bring her back into our homes and into our hearts, because until our heart strings are pulled upon by something real – by something natural – ignorance and apathy will persist. When we make that connection with even a small part of Nature, to care about something beyond our personal existence, there is hope. We can begin by turning off porch lights and encouraging our neighbors to do the same. Once a person really sees the night sky, they see how small and fragile our tiny planet is.
