Hello to lace chat,
I dislike the amount of lighting that societies use
today-with the belief that, if every establishment is a glowing beacon
of light day and night, it will be impossible for a thief to enter
without being seen. Well, that is a nice idea, but I see folks drive by
stores and even banks that are alive with people moving about within at
11 and even midnight-the cleaning staffs for those businesses are
plainly visible-and not always in uniform as cleaning crews.
In my mind's eye, I envision some wise person turning out
ALL the lights at about 11pm..and keeping them all out. Then how would
the burglars see? Wouldn't their torches shining in the enveloping
black of the business they've entered be more noticeable in the inky
black; thus making their nefarious dealings all the more obvious?
What would those nasty druggies do if it were REALLY dark-no
city lights to lend a friendly glow? On nights without a moon, it would
be impossible to move about in those dark city areas.Perhaps it would be
an improvement. After all, how many of us have ever seen a totally dark
horizon? Perhaps at sea, but not many of us have really been in the
dark even once in our lives.
And, who among you really believes that the new headlamps on
cars, SUVs and trucks do anything but blind drivers ahead? Do we really
need 4, 5, even 6 headlamps on cars? Isn't it really Detroit's appeal
to vanity and attempts to make a style that some inexperienced person
believes they must pay for to be with the in crowd? Have you ever
had the experience of driving in front of one of those vehicles with
multiple BADLY AIMED headlamps? The drivers do not care, but the
results could be deadly-let alone oncoming traffic, similarly equipped!
As this generation ages, it becomes all the more obvious
that headlamps are not there to illuminate the road; they are there to
create an object that some one may be induced to buy for a variety of
irrelevant and frivolous reasons, none of which have to do with light!
Furthermore, this aging generation finds such over illumination
increasingly blinding as we age and our eyes become less able to deal
with the assault of oncoming cars.
Want an odd, but possible idea for illuminating buildings
with passive free light? It would be expensive, but beautiful, and
without cost after installation. Consider ropes braided or netted
through buildings-ropes made of optical fibers that have their starting
ends spread-eagled (gathering light from outdoors) atop the buildings
they light-thus creating loops of light down hallways, through
offices-even in lace woven patterns as wall hangings-there's a new way
to make lace! That would cut energy use significantly during peak
daylight hours, for even on a cloudy day, the daylight is sufficient
for us to see with-at least outdoors. So, should we bring that light
in, it would be sufficient for most tasks-at a fraction of the energy
use, or with only minimal additional lighting.
Allison E. Moss-Fritch, in sunny Santa Clara, CA, where a newly washed
batch of wool is drying on my driveway in filtered sun, for free!
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
