Our lane is nine hundred seventy-five feet long. I'm not guessing. I know. It was measured by myself and the contractor when he scraped off the topsoil and then brought in truckload after truckload of stone. It was an expensive endeavor, and to his credit, he didn't want to charge me for more than I got. Well, that and he knew my grandfather watched him like a hawk waiting to pounce at the first sign of price gouging. So we measured it.
In the country, it's dark at night. There are no street lights to illuminate the way, just the moon and stars. Here lately, I've come to need more. Deuce is now five years old, and he's suddenly more adventurous when we go out last thing before bedtime. His fur is black as coal and he vanishes from sight far too often for my liking. The solution is solar-powered, motion-detecting lighting installed along the lane.
I resisted doing this for a long time, but our thinking changes as we get older. And, of course, the solar-powered option didn't exist forty years ago.
The first set of lights were easy to install. I screwed the bracket onto a large tree and set the fixture in place. Done! It worked the very first night and has worked perfectly since. I'm up to having four lights along the lane and I'm pretty sure there will be more added.
As they only stay on for thirty seconds, I don't worry about "light pollution." The world has enough of that. The motion detector senses movement, being myself or Deuce, and the lights come on to illuminate our way and then shut off behind us. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I'm not sure what the fox thinks about all the light. Maybe it will convince him to move into someone else's woods.
The Lady of Holly Tree Manor
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