I do not wish to relish in the misery of others. But that being said, howling NE winds the night of Monday, Feb. 21 resulted in an island-wide power outage on Lopez and Orcas, starting about 9 p.m.

What a treat it was to have those numerous mercury vapor lights dotting the shoreline of Upright Head suddenly extinguished. It was a stark illustration of how these folks not only light up their own immediate area but also thoughtlessly impose that obnoxious and intrusive lighting on others. It brightly shines across the over 2-mile wide stretch of Thatcher Pass between Lopez and Blakely, smack into our eyeballs each and every night of our lives from sunset to sunrise. Really people? Do you have no concept of dark sky principles? It is no more than common courtesy to focus your outdoor nighttime lighting such that it shines either upwards or downwards, but never EVER horizontally? To have it bleeding across your boundary for miles is unconscionable! How would you like it if I were to come camp out on your property line and shine a spotlight on you?

On this one night, the stars above shone brightly. Too bad it takes a power outage to produce what should be a regular nightly event.

Don Burkhart

Blakely