On the last Sunday morning of 2014, I recorded a show on History 2 called Afraid of the Dark. It was about darkness over history and what terrified people: lions, hyenas, wolves, vampires, werewolves, Satan, fire, strangers, thieves, highwaymen...fascinating stuff that gets my storytelling cells going.
Also included was mention of a darkness scale, the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale (from 1 to 9--the darker the sky, the lower the number). Due to artificial light "pollution," we have few places on the scale that are a one, very dark. In the continental US now, we have no ones and few twos...one modern day was in rural Ohio where the Mennonites live. To get to a one, an American would need to take a ship 300 nautical miles from the east coast.
We also see fewer stars than our ancestors saw due to air pollution.
I think the darkest place I've ever been was the night I spent at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Desert. It was truly dark there. I slept with a light on, and the night was long. I grew comfortable with the darkness as time passed and realized there were more people (and more women) around than I knew. I'd have slept better the second night had one been on our itinerary. The good news, though, about not sleeping well that first night was being up early and seeing the sunrise over those mountains of rock. And I was allowed to attend a lovely mass in an old and dark church.
I love fall and winter when we have longer nights, but that's mostly because I'm safe and warm and have artificial lighting and a laptop and television. Last winter when a polar vortex blew through my city, I stayed awake until nearly dawn, witnessing.
Darkness. I think I'll try to channel some of the cells of my ancestors within me and write a story about a long, very dark night. While I do, here are some images from St. Catherine for you to enjoy.
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