Published: March 04, 2009 01:09 pm      

RANDOM THOUGHTS: How are y'all doing?

As long as there has been a South there has been the expression "y'all." That is the way it sounds to me but the dictionary is more proper and spells it "you-all." It has stood the test of time. Distinctly Southern in origin those folks from other regions of the country embrace it and feel accepted by those who address them with that friendly greeting, "you-all."

There is another phrase that has entered our conversations. It has no geographic boundaries but is found across the nation and is used so often it distracts from what the speaker is saying. Two words, "you know," are thrown in so often one wonders why anyone should listen if they already know.

"You know" is used by young, old, educated and illiterates. I listened to an author on radio and during just five minutes he used "you know" 16 times! Rather than allow any pauses those talking fill in with "you know."

In these uncertain times another long-time phrase describing judgment appears more often, "common sense." One author titled his book The Death of Common Sense. During a call-in show on C-Span a woman described Congress as “on vacation from common sense.”

Two writers in the 1600s had thoughts on common sense. Descartes wrote, “Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.” And La Rochefoucauld used even fewer words, “We seldom attribute common sense except to those who agree with us.”

So much for my opinion. "You-all" and "common sense" enrich our language but please banish "you know" which pollutes speech.

***

An entirely different pollutant quietly but steadily took away the wonders in a night sky. Public safety demanded outdoor lighting. Modern times found people awake for longer hours and the need for artificial light both in homes and on the street grew. Even though it is fact that humans require more hours of dark for good health today’s people choose to ignore such ideas.

In 1988 a small group worried about this trend. In this group was an astronomer, a medical doctor who was an amateur astronomer and an engineer. They decided to form an organization called the International Dark-Sky Association (IDS). Their mission was to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality controlled outdoor lighting. The organization was U.S.-based and non-profit.

By 2001 they established the first IDS community in Flagstaff, AZ. In 2007 the Natural Bridge in southeast Utah was named the first IDS Park. This year an area near Quebec has become the first IDS Reserve and later this year Scotland will have the first European IDS Park. Ohio has the honor of opening the third IDS Park in the U.S. This “dark sky park” in the 1,100-acre Geauga Park District of Cleveland will feature multimedia displays, two huge telescopes and a weather station.

According to the United Nations 2008 was the first year where over half the world’s population lived in cities. Over many years we have heard of city youngsters not knowing about cows or other farm animals. Now with even more living in cities they are deprived of the wonders night skies hold.

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and they have launched an ambitious sky watching year of star hunts or star counts. March is designated as the Globe at Night and October will have the Great World Wide Star Count. All the other months will be a search for how many stars can be seen.

For those born before light pollution blotted out the Milky Way and twinkling stars this is a project to support. My childhood was filled with nights when stretched out on the grass I gazed into the dark skies filled with indescribable beauty. These days I’m still looking up but there is little to see.