i wish for one night to turn off all the city lights...

I wish for one night to turn off all the city lights and stare into an open sky. The nights will go on longer and the memories will last forever.

That is something I wrote a few years ago, but still love to this day.

I live in a suburban town and although my house is probably subjected to the least amount of city lights, I still don't see what I would like to see while I sit on my porch at night.
My family and I ocassionaly takes trips to our farm. It is in the center of a valley and we own the hills in the valley as well. The favorite hang out of the town is a small milkshake place nearby; the jail can be watched at night by a 24-year-old woman by her self; the nearest walmart, DQ, or any fancy stores like that are 30 minutes away in any direction.

My favorite part is sitting outside at night, listening to the horses playing, and looking up at what is above me. See, when you're out there looking up at the sky, it is like a light show you would pay for at the science center. It is beautiful. You can actually begin to understand how astronomers came up with Orien and his lion many years ago.

As you drive home from the farm, there is no defined line of country and city. Small towns pop up on the way and it slowly changes as you go. Then we reach a point. You can see the top of the arch over the highway overpass. The arch is normally a great sign of discovery, and that it was, but now I don't see that anymore. Instead I look at that arch and realize I won't being seeing much of Orien that night.

See, we have become so used to the simple life of having lighted streets, companies, and resturants open at all hours of the night, and even our houses running of full electric power till 1 or 2 in the morning, that we have forgotten what we loose for these "luxuries."

Ever since i was little I have disliked cities. I have always wanted to live in a small town, on a ranch with horses - to be able to go watch local bands every night at a place where everyone greets each other and talks. Yet, even I realize that I have become too adapted to this "luxurious" life in which I've grown up.

I'm not sure about you, but I do know that when I have children someday I want them to look up at the sky and be able to dream all the dreams any child has ever had. I want them to be able to see beyond the smoke of the city streets. I want them hear the simple noises of a peacefull night outside of a city life. I want them to understand that all of this doesn't have to end.

Do we really need all these fancy lights? Is there a greater purpose in those deisel trucks? Why, might I ask, have we lost our feet, and the roads on which we travel have been cemented so deep?