Carbon Footprint

I just love these names people dream up. I think it all stems from the fact that the dictionary has run out of words, so let's invent some more, "Carbon Footprint?"

Days end early, it's cold as a Witches _____, more layers of clothes are needed, the paper is full of ads, some guy on the radio is singing like an Eye Tailian from Brook-a-lyne about a donkey named Dominic, so it must be the Christmas season! No more thinking about the birth of the Savior and living the Christian way. Mass merchandise and crass commercialization. Sell, Buy, Consume! And don't forget to stomp some poor guy, who's just trying to make a living at just above minimum wage, so you can get that 96 inch flat screen TV to watch Infomercials (another one of those new words) on.

So it comes with the times that the World becomes a little more polluted. People go to great lengths to slather and garb their homes in a parade of lights that make Times Square blush.

Stores open early and close late. More lights. More heat. More dinosaurs burned. People travel more to the stores to buy presents so they can out do each other in a half hour of frenzy on Christmas Morning, so more gas is consumed. Thank the heavens that fuel costs are finally down.

But nobody thinks about one result of all of this and that is of the sky. I'm not talking about ozone layer, smog, acid rain. I'm talking about the stars, the planets, the ultimate cosmos (No, not the drink). As we evolve and extend the number of consumable hours in the day, we run out of natural daylight. So "Let's light up the Night!" Turn on the lights. Everything from seasonal lights, notice I didn't say Christmas, - ( I'm not trying to be politically correct here but we now light up our yards for Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July, Sh rove Tuesday, etc. Any chance we can we are displaying our inability to cope with the dark), - to multicolored lights on the Empire State Building to a huge pyramid in "Lost Wages" (Las Vegas). Lights are on.

In our pursuit to glamorize and achieve beauty here on Earth we are closing the door on Natures night time beauty in the sky above. The constellations once told stories. We now have Satellite TV from the heavens with 800 different ways to show how to keep that erection or to stuff a roast with herbs. The meteor showers and comets would put on a spectacular natural fireworks display. Now we have the transformer on the corner phone pole exploding because of power overload. The biggest thing about the sky is it's unending size. Looking at it and thinking about it really can be a humbling experience. We are nothing bigger than a nat on an elephants ass when it is all said and done. So maybe all those infomercials about male enhancement drugs has gone to our heads. By blocking out the night sky with light pollution we've been able to ensure our own self importance by showing that some day, and that day is coming soon, that our carbon footprint will be bigger than anything Captain Kirk had ever had the pleasure to explore!