Lights or Not?

I don't have one. Unless I am under the trees or looking to see if I can find out what the dogs are barking about like a snake or a deer that got careless, I don't need one. I have enough sense to not be running after dark.

I can walk the dogs at midnight without light. I have a clear path of wood chips around the property line with mostly open sky. One need a 10 Ft tree and brush free one around all fences anyway.

No electric... no electric lights. I use a candle lantern if I need light other than what nature provides.

I live far enough up in the holler and away from closest neighbor that there are no man made sounds unless someone is coming here. The pavement ends 2.5 miles down the mountain and I can hear vehicles when they hit the dirt/gravel.

You'd be surprised at how well you can see "in the dark" and how much you can hear once you adjust to it.

__________________
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid".

Bit my sneaker twice but didn't get my skin.

We have electricity but keep it cheap as possible so no excess lights. We have a power bar for the TV and microwave. When both are not in use the power bars are off. We rise at dawn and go to bed at dark most of the year. Winter it is dark so early we may be up an hour or so after dark. No lights are turned on during the day except for reading on a cloudy day.We have good led flash lights and a battery run lantern if needed. I have very many allergies so we don't use oil lamps and only unscented candles occasionally. Lately I got a wind up lantern that does not require batteries. We save the electric for the freezers and apt size washer and lights when we need them; toaster oven and hot plate. Our power bill averages $40 every two months including the basic $23 charge and 15% tax. That is about as cheap as we can have power here.

Mine was less than $80 this month. I run light till midnight and always 10:30. I cook with electric also.

We are renting a cabin that has a dusk to dawn light ...we only use a small night light in the bathroom

The stars are too beautiful to drown out with lights.. I do have a motion detection flood light on the side of the house hat comes on if anyone tries to walk up to the house...

I never could stand those dusk to dawn lights...

__________________
Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

Sounds like we live in he same holler.. Don't you love being remote!

__________________
Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

We have a pole light in the back drive from the electric company. We park our cars in that drive and leave so early that it helps us see the path out, which is a bit of a stretch. We don't have anything in the second drive but we do have motion detector lights that kick on as something approaches our porch. We keep the garage, barn, and sheds unlit so we can see flashlights if there are snoopers..but our two large dogs kind of deter anything from coming into the yard!

It's great! I searched for three years to find the perfect place and it's taken four or five years to get everything together like I want it. Lot's of work but by this time next year I won't have to come out of the mountains for much of anything... which suits me just fine.

__________________
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid".

No lights. Dh turns on the back door porch light. I have no idea why. But hey, I got him to get rid of that big ol pole light that everyone else has.

I hate the so-called security lights. Two neighbours have them so I don't see the stars. They also blind me when I try to go out at night. But there's no persuading them to turn them off. I do have a motion sensor light by the back door that comes on when I drive up to the house. That way I have light for as long as it takes to get into the house.

Let me tell you a story about "security" lights. Several years ago I lived on a friend's property that was bordered by a creek that separated the area from a large ranch. There were 6 or 7 people living in that area on 5 acre lots. Someone new moved in and put up a couple of "security" lights because she was afraid to be in the country by herself without a light. Within a couple of month, people began to miss things left outside, and the woman who put up the lights was robbed on a regular basis. Up until those lights went up, no one in the area had every been robbed. I don't think anyone knew those houses were back there. But the light alerted them to the fact there were easy pickings.

__________________
I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it. Attributed to Voltaire

My wife inherited her Great Uncle's and Aunt's farm. We have a road in front of the house - but it's a back road - so not much traffic.

When we first moved here, my Father-in-Law had a dusk to dawn light on the side of the house, and a dusk to dawn light at the barn. (Luckily the one on the house doesn't work correctly as the it was installed at the peak of the house, and the reflection of the light turns it off - so they put a switch on it.) We used it for a while, but that light happens to be on the side of the house our bedroom is on - so we haven't used it for a while. In fact, I couldn't tell you when the last was I had it on. (I wonder if it even works.)

The dusk to dawn light at the barn died about 15 years ago - and I never had it replaced.

The way I figure - those dusk to dawn lights let people see what they are doing. If there is no light and they are on our property for some reason, they either have to risk using a flashlight (which would alert our dogs) or stumble around in the dark and risk injury - our yard isn't smooth.

When we first moved here, no one around had a dusk to dawn light. Now, there are at least 10 that we can see. None close enough to pollute us with light, but still - where before there was total darkness on the horizon, there are now lights here and there. (I've often wondered about a well placed shot with a rifle as well!)

__________________
Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

Interesting topic.
I remember a story in my family of the Rural co-op going house to house trying to sell people on the Night lights (Burgler light). It was the early days of electricity and the elderly man's response was the Burglar can bring their on **** light!
I agree, seems safer to me to keep everything dark. You know the place and the burglar will stand out when he uses the light to find his way around.

Had a light when we moved here 15 years ago. I had the power company shut it off so we could see the night sky. Neighbor moved is and yep they put in a street light. Do you know if you shine a spotlight at them they will turn off. When your neighbors are tipsy and you do this several times they will call the power company the next day to check out what is wrong with their light. After a few nights you do this again and after a while they just tell the power company to shut it down. Things that make you go HHHMMMM.

__________________
:cool: :angel: TRUTH & MERCY
www.dixieflowersoap.com
www.mollyjogger.com
Big D Farm Blog

Sorta on the jealous side.

Dogs do very well in the dark. Their eyes are made for it and are light blinded just like humans. They also have much better hearing. Mine can hear when I break a dog bone in the house and they are all outside dogs.
Rattle the feed can lid and they come running whether I am early or late on feed time. They recognize the sound of my vehicle.

Dark! You can't even see the light on in my house until you are within 10 ft.

The nearest light is on a neighboring property. They have a security light on at their horse shed. They keep getting broke into. Crooks don't know I'm here as they can't see my place.

__________________
www.easttxbees.com
www.facebook.com/easttxbees