Screechings of a weather nag
BUG GUTS & BEAUTY
It’s the middle of July and the parkas are being pulled out of the closets. Nothing like a cold snap to speed up the heart rate. With the rain comes the issue of lights on vehicles.
Electric lights are an amazing invention. Once man discovered how to make a spark new uses for it came at a rapid pace. Chief amongst these was the ability of that spark to light up the night sky better than an oil lamp. Making electricity is a relatively simple process. Take an engine, some magnets, and a wheel. Spin the wheel between two magnets to create a current and you have electricity. That is the basic idea.
Since power companies have been around there have been people who have griped about the high cost. Turning on lights wastes money so doing everything in the dark saves money. Their ancestors complained about fire in the fire pit.
The legislature, a collection of wise citizens peopled with wise acres, and sharp wits deemed it necessary to turn on lights when the rain fell, snow blew, and at night. Whether one agrees with that view does not matter. The law is now the law. If it rains, turn on the lights. Miserly types can whine their tale of woe before the judge.
It was amusing to watch as the silver ghost asset of the Presque Isle Police Department pulled over a motorist who did not have his headlights on during a recent rainstorm. Finally, some one putting the fear of tickets into a fool.
Twenty years ago when full-time headlights were introduced on U.S. cars, other drivers were flummoxed by cars careening down the highways with headlights on. Flashing headlights at the oncoming driver did little other than to elicit a wave and off went a spendthrift driver wasting his money. Today, most cars are set up to either run with lights on all the time or turn them on when the wipers are turned on.
Fools, idiots, and penny pinchers still exist today. Despite evidence to the contrary, their belief is that lights are not needed even when available light is limited. These are probably the same people who believe in cold showers in January. Do not waste money! They will be the first to wish to buy ice water in Hades.
Perhaps one day there will be checkpoints where the lights on rule will be checked. For now the area is left with the screechings of a weather nag: Turn on those lights when it rains or snows!
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After 20 years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
