Trying not to fall for you
is like trying to scale a waterslide,
like attempting to quantify
with certainty
the stars in a Death Valley sky
or the lights of Las Vegas.

Trying not to think of you continually
is an impossibility on the scale
of stumbling on proof of string theory
or sailing off the edges of the earth.

10/28/2006

Author's Note: Despite being at nearly the lowest elevation on earth and thus subject to filtration through the thickest atmosphere, the night sky of Death Valley is remarkably pristine, it being the darkest of our National Parks. Yet it is at risk from light pollution from Las Vegas and Los Angeles. I have long been interested in the issue of light pollution, even before any serious scientific study was done on the subject. The orange glow of Louisville, KY encroaches upon my view of the night sky and air traffice from the UPS hub plagues the horizon. I was first introduced to the specific plight of Death Valley via "Nature: Life in Death Valley" programming on PBS. http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060318/bob10.asp http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/deathvalley/index.html http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/lightscape.htm http://www.xent.com/pipermail/fork/Week-of-Mon-20031006/025906.html

Posted on 10/28/2006
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