M

When I think of a memory that had a meaning full experience on my life, I can only think of one that has had a monumental effect on me. Last year when I was a senior I was apart of a program called Key Club. Key Club is a community service club that volunteers to do local activities. In September there was a local event called the Special Rodeo. What would take place was we were going to assist with all the activities like horse walking and vending booths. It was a Saturday morning clear blue skies perfect for an outdoor event. When I was going I didn’t think anything special would happen to me but I was soon wrong when an event changed my day. When I arrived to the Honda dealership, that was the host for this event, my friend and I were pretty early.

As we waited around to get let in I called my friend Cathy called me and told me where we were. John and I were supposed to meet her and her friends so we can all stay together because we knew nobody else. Five minutes later it was nine p.m. and they let us into the dealership and john and I instantly met our friends who cut in line so nobody would be lost. To my surprise Cathy brought somebody I had never seen before. Her name was [M] this was the first time I had ever seen her and I instantly grew a liking to her. She had green, blue eyes and long curly hair. Her facial features were exactly allied and to me she was absolutely perfect. She had a cute small nose and a great smile. After we introduced ourselves we split up to do our designated activates. M and I were not together for this but her unique eyes never left my mind. Throughout the day I did many activities like walking horses while the children rode them, and helped paint children’s faces.

After all the fun activities, around twelve the promoters began to pass out lunch. John and I met up with our friend and proceeded to get in line. I stood next to M and began to get to know her; she was a fun girl who had a strange love for pickles. The funny thing was I hated pickles so we joked around about things like that.

As time progressed we all sat around in a circle and ate and my attraction for her grew. I had never felt the way I was feeling for anybody so this was all new. The funny thing was I had just met her. She wasn’t shy either with made things for fun, the whole key club booth all went up to sing karaoke and even though we butchered the song we all had a blast. After we butchered a Jonas Brothers song we all split back up and M and I stayed together. We danced and laughed and we showed mutual likes in simple things. Time flew by so fast that it was already 3 and the rodeo was over. She asked for a ride so I took her home, she lived five minutes from me. When I dropped her off I was too nervous to ask for her number so I passed and waited to talk to her when I got to school on Monday. This was not the last time I saw her, M and I had many great memories, which will be cherished in my heart forever. This memory is one of the most meaningful memories in my adult life so far because M changed my life forever; she was one of the most fun and beautiful girls I had ever met and my time with her was the greatest year i had ever had. Even though this is a very personal story I wouldn’t of changed anything about that day and that event will be forever imprinted in my brain.

Every Night Light

      Every night, wild life is being harmed by the excess amount of light we as a civilization are transmitting while we navigate the dark streets. We might not have thought about the actual amount of damage we are doing to animals that live and hunt during the night. I chose to write about how light pollution is harming animals because living in Baytown there are a great number of light posts, and restaurant signs. I am going to write about how birds and amphibians are harmed by the artificial light. Such as disturbing their flight patterns, sleep patterned and mating problems.

                                      

       I am one of the people that needs to change because some times when I get home late from work I like to go play tennis in my neighborhood which has a built in light system. I feel bad each time I go because while I’m playing I always hear birds which I assume believe that its morning time when its actually ten p.m. I was not aware of how much harm I was actually doing until I watched The City Dark, that movie informed me with a great number of shocking information with made me sad and assumed of what I was doing. Almost every species of animals is harmed by the excess amount of light we are wasting at night.

                                     


         I also find it sad how we as a planet use night time light to symbolize how powerful, and how technologically advanced we are. Not only are we harming animals, we are also wasting a huge amount of energy. I plan on backing up my claim by providing a bunch of research that have a lot of useful information about how bats and birds flight patterns change when they are interrupted by light poles. I’m not only going to use birds, but anfibians as well. I have found an interesting article about how artificial light has decreased the frog population because under these lights male frogs do not make as many mating calls which lowers the amount of males that will end up reproducing with females. I want to do both species because I feel that the more different animals I use in this paper will add more a greater problem that spans to multiple species so hopefully more people will be come aware of this problem. 


                                      


        From the movie I am thinking about using the man who is a light designer in my essay. He is a great inovater who I feel really is making a change for the wildlife. His lights are perfect examples of how he is creating a better place for animals. With his lights shinning down, the birds will not get distracted and keep their flight patterns stable. For my research I have found many great articles on Academic Search Complete. Most of them are about how bats flight patterns have altered during artificial light, and also how they have struggled to follow during migrating seasons. There are many interesting quotes I can choose from, and I am confident I will be able to produce some quality evidence to back up my claim. I am very interested in trying to find alternatives to decreasing the amount of light that is being wasted, and protecting the wild life.


                                      

Fade into Darkness

            Ian Cheney’s comment about the night sky and how we are built to move closer to the campfire is a very interesting statement. I do feel the same way he does, light does make things safer, and I also feel most people feel the same way. Throughout my neighborhood almost every single house has an automatic light that comes on at night time to guard their door. I feel that light makes people feel safer because people are able to see their full surroundings. In the Video The City Dark, a lady was saying how the light made her feel safe because she could see everything clearly. This is a very common statement because you hardly ever see anybody jogging around the block at night time. I also believe it has something to do with evolution because since the beginning of man we have always had light, weather it is from fire or more recently electricity. 

                                                                  

            Caveman and past ancestors used fire to cook food and even keep warm, so that can be a reason why we have genetically evolved to need some sort of light. The most interesting thing about this statement is the argument about more crime at night. I do believe there is more crime at night because people are able to dress up in dark colors and blend in with the dark night. The dark colors give criminals the motivation to do things at night because they know it will be hard to spot them. I can also argue that light does prevent crime because there are very few crimes committed during the day. Criminals know that if they try anything during the day they have a better chance at getting caught because people are able to see them, and cops are patrolling.


                                                     
                                           
            Going back to my earlier statement the bright lights in front of our garages at night time help keep us safe because if any of our neighbors are up they can help watch our house for us, and point out any abnormalities. The night skies are beautiful but also dangerous. Our ancestors feared the night not only because of the cold but also because of predators, such as large animals. Growing up I use to be scared of the dark, it’s almost instinctual to fear what you cannot see. The thought of a boogie man was imprinted in my mind and I always had to use a night light just so I could see what was in my room.
            

        In some cases light can cause harm, especially to animals. Even though we as people see comfort in light, a lot of animals are still not use to powerful light projection. In a lot of the animals the light throws off their sleeping patterns. Even though we are the alpha males we still need to care and protect the animals that are not gifted like us. Producing less light in some rural areas will help the animal species. Ian Cheney’s response about the night sky to me is a 100 percent accurate, I do feel that it is genetically imprinted in our bodies to fear the night and feel comfort in the bright light, but as a community we need to have consideration for every other animal we share this planet with. The dark night can be scary and as my mother use to say “nothing good happens at night it only causes trouble”.