Yard lights

[pbenven]

What's best for me is keeping my light on.
What's best for you (from your previous posts) is not to have a light.

Aren't we both doing what we think is best for ourselves?

Besides, singling out that one phrase from my post without reading the rest doesn't quite capture the gist of how I relate to my neighbors.

I'm sorry that you find yard lights so annoying. If you were my neighbor I certainly hope you'd tell me so we could work something out. What I don't accept is when someone isn't willing to negotiate (ie: "Your light bothers me, take it down.")

[Mosey]

OK pbenven, I admit I'm guilty of singling out just part of your quote!

You stated: "I try to consider the affect of my decisions on those around me, but it comes down to me doing what I think is best is for me."

I just get a little irritated at people sometimes. I don't know how it is in Canada, but here in the USA it's not uncommon to constantly encounter people who apparently have no idea that there are others around them or if they do they certainly don't care about them.

I just think there are too many people who take the first part of your quote "I try to consider the affect of my decisions on those around me" too lightly and too easily just please themselves regardless of how it affects others. I apologize for accusing you of being one of them, since I don't really think you are!

But, you're not comparing apples to apples when you say it's in your best interest to have a light and it's in my best interest not to have a light, so we both do what's best for us. My not having a light is not bothering anyone. If I did have a light, there's good chance that it would. It's a lot like the smoking and non-smoking issue. A smoker can bother a non-smoker by smoking around them, but a non-smoker isn't bothering a smoker by not smoking around them.

Right now there are no lights close enough to my house to bother me. I just hope it stays that way.

[pbenven]

Thanks for setting that straight, I appreciate it.

I agree with you that I'm not comparing apples to apples regarding the "to light or not to light" decision in the sense that the decision "to not" is obvioulsy less of an issue:

Fred: "Hey Tim, you mind if I don't put a light up on my garage?"

Tim: "Are you feeling OK, Fred?"

But rather that either decision is that of the property owner. The fact that one is more offensive than the other is not the decision maker's problem - it's one of law and I sure don't want to get into that discussion.

Anyways, mine comes on every night, I like it, and so do the neighbors.

[DUMBDOG]

Do not know the ages or where any of you grew up at, but I grew up on a small farm in North Dakota. They did have electricity when I was born, put it i a couple of years before, but can you imagine going out to do the chores in the evening and it was dark, using a latern or flashlight to do the job properly.

When electricity came along and they offered a yard light at a couple dollars a month, it was a great tool. When you went out to milk in the morning during the winter you had a light so that you could see where the cows were, also in the evening you go fill the coal pails and you had light so that you could see what you were doing. You could also check on any disturbance in the yard just by looking out the window.

It was also reassuring when driving at night you could place where you were at by the yard lights every mile or so, nowadays you go out there and you are lucky if you see a light every three miles or so.

Now, i just have a motion detector on the shop, guess I like the dark better, however I do not have to go out and milk the cows in the dark, gather the eggs, get the coal and whatever endless tasks that kept the farmers going from well before the sun came up and long after it went down.

No I do miss the good old days, for the most part our lives are a lot better now, if you can eliminate the stress of the fast paced lives a lot of us live in. I do remember when they put in the telephone lines. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[wingnut]

My goodness, thi sthread has wandered from the original question of "do you or don't you".
I loved the comment about the detective. How long's he been a detective? Based on my brother-in-law (the ex-cop) and other cops I know .... most burglaries are not done during the night ... much too dangerous to would-be burglars (since people and dogs are home at night). Night time is when the mischief makers are out.
I don't think a light adds or subtracts security. Except maybe at an airport. Some people just don't like the dark. I like the dark, but have to put up with a nightlight because my wife doesn't lik ethe dark. Life's tough ... but more fun if you enjoy it!

[Argee]

I agree with Wingnut. If your neighbors light is bothering you, look the other way. If it shines in your window at night, put up a dam shade. Life is to short to sweat the little stuff.

[Mosey]

The orginal point I was making is "Too many of these yard lights staying on all night is making the country more like the city!". A lot of use move to the country to get away from the city life.

[Argee]

I also moved to the country to get away from the city. <font color="red"> One </font color> of the reasons was so I wouldn't be annoyed by neighbors <font color="red"> pushing their personal beliefs </font color> on how I should live my life!

Farmers used to harvest their crops by the light of the harvest moon, hence its name. But with the advent of technology they now use the lights on their tractors instead.

Moving to the country doesn't mean you have to give up conveniences because your in a rural setting. My god man, I have running water, flush toilets, television, internet connection and a yard light. Does that make me a bad person?

People move to the country to get away from all the BS they put up with in an urban environment, then start pushing for similar edicts they had in the city. Does that make any sense? [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

Like I said before, life is to short to sweat the little stuff. Live and let live.

[beenthere]

This has been a good thread, with a variety of contrasting desires and interests that we have and cherish. I hope we can continue to discuss our different opinions, without attempting to convince the other they are wrong. It probably won't happen. Often I hear an opinion that I have not considered in my own 'firm' belief that I am right. Sometimes I remove some of the hard edges of that belief.

At a town meeting one night, after a "city slicker" had endlessly complained about a new problem for months on end (didn't want manure on the roads, didn't want farmers working in the fields within 600 yds when he was at his country home, didn't want to come around the corner and meet a 12' combine taking up the town road, etc.). The comment from a neighboring farmer was first the question "Did you really like this area when you first came here?" Answer "yes". Comment "Then leave it that way."

Lets be friends and continue to discuss our sides of all things great and small. [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[tdenny]

LazyJ_Arabians

Thanks for the link. that's what I was looking for. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]