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| Barrowfield night sky Photograph by Frans Marais |
On settling here at Barrowfield, there were quite a few boxes that were on our initial wish list that we could mark off: silence –check; nature –check; workshops – check; beauty – check; gardening – check; definite change of seasons - check. These were all elements that we regarded as important when we started searching for a place to establish The Restory. Often based more on instinct than knowledge, we knew these things to be important factors in helping people to get in touch with God, themselves and life in general. Nothing mind-blowing or extreme. Actually very simple, but also very basic to being human living on this earth.
In the years preceding our eventual scouting and exploring I often talked to Matilda about another element on the wish list as well – darkness. I often said to her: “Wouldn’t it be nice to live somewhere that is absolutely dark when you switch off your light at night.” Once, on travelling at night from Bedford to Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape I pulled the car to the side of the road, got out and just enjoyed the total darkness. No other traffic, no beacon light on a cell phone or other telecommunication mast, no security beams illuminating whole areas. For us living in Gauteng at that stage it was a total luxury.
Then we came to Wakkerstroom and more specifically Barrowfield and we could check that off as well: total darkness. We would go out at night, look up and stand amazed at the night sky overhead. For those who come to visit from the city it is often a novel experience and a wonderful discovery.
I recently came across a book that immediately went straight to my wish list: The end of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard. Through thorough research, talking to experts in the field and travelling extensively, Bogard comes to the conclusion that our constant exposure to artificial light not only has a detrimental effect on our health, but also let us lose out on much much more. Eight out of ten Americans born today won’t ever live in a place where they can see the Milky Way. We’ve lost touch with the primal and in the process of not seeing the stars we’ve become adrift not knowing our place in the wider scheme of things. Amidst the array of disorders that psychologists constantly bring to our attention, one of the most important ones is often overlooked – nature deficit disorder. Bogard’s book is therefore a very important step in addressing the shrinking role nature plays in our lives and the diminishing effect it has on our humanity.
This message is summed up thus in some of the reviews of The End of Night:
"The most precious things in the modern world are probably silence, solitude, and darkness--and of these three rarities, true darkness may be the rarest of all. Many thanks to Paul Bogard for searching out the dark spots and reminding us to celebrate them!"--Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
"Darkness is among the many things we have lost gradually, without mourning. Paul Bogard offers a brilliantly illuminating history and a badly needed reminder that we have been blind to the death of night."--Bill Streever, author of Cold
Here in South Africa we are currently experiencing load shedding by the national supplier of electricity, Eskom. National power outages occur regularly with the expected rage and frustration accompanying it. Fortunately, true to our nature, South Africans also find the humour in national predicaments with many an Eskom cartoon or joke doing the rounds. Apart from the rage and humour, it can also be one of the biggest gifts we’ve received in a long time: having the national switch flipped so that we can spread our blankets under the night sky and look at stars. We need it more than we know.
George
See also the post A darkness not dark
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