The Wimberley Lights
Mimi Cavender
They appear every night in the near perfect dark of the valley. They run a chill down your spine. I’ve never driven out to Marfa to see theirs, but now we have our own Lights right here in Wimberley. They’re visible just at dusk and grow brighter, whiter, as the night darkens.
I’ve ruled out alien spacecraft, the moon, Venus, WWII searchlights, swamp gas, and Bubba with a new hog light. These lights are out there, just beyond the Blanco, west of downtown. People way up in Wood Creek and over in Paradise Hills have posted about them. I’m not crazy.
Recently it occurred to me I could investigate—like in movies when they search the old barn with the chainsaws… Never mind, my blood is up! Whoever’s been blinding us in our precious dark quiet Hill Country is committing light trespass! They’re slurring Wimberley’s glowing “Dark-Sky Community” reputation! So where is this honkin’ light anyway?
I grabbed my camera, uh, phone. And I’ll walk you through it.
The sunset was spectacular. Here south of the Blanco, away from H.E.B. and the traffic on RR12, it would be another dark Hill Country Night. A velvet black Wimberley Valley, fireflies, stars…
Behind Twin Sisters, the west greyed from peach to pewter.
Wimberley was doing its semi-Dark-Sky thing.
Then, from my darkening front porch, there it was!
What was always quiet Blanco Valley dark now is this. Not telephoto—our eyes see this, only brighter!
Since Hays has proudly proclaimed itself a Lights Out County, you figure they’ve either let this glaring infraction slip through the cracks—or will promote The Wimberley Lights as a tourist attraction? Certainly hasn’t hurt Marfa!
March 29, 2022
Hays County Commissioners Court Proclamation recognized Lights Out! In Hays County
…Therefore be it resolved that the Hays County Commissioners Court proclaims, One: March 1 through June 15, 2022, and August 15 through November 2022, shall hereafter be known as “Lights Out Hays County Months” in the county of Hays County, Texas. Two: Hays County shall work with the collaborative team organized by Hays County Friends of the Night Sky to provide information to the public about the Lights Out Hays County campaign, the impacts of lights on bird migration, and the benefits of reducing light pollution and energy consumption. Adopted this, the 29th day of March, 2022.
County Judge Ruben Becerra commented, “I think [the Lights Out Hays County Project] is absolutely essential…” Commissioner Walt Smith, Precinct 4, added that Hays County continues “…to work with the state legislature in trying to give actual zoning authority to [Hays] County to address [light pollution] issues…I look forward in the coming year to work with [Friends of the Night Sky and partners] on this.”
Hays County Friends of the Night Sky leader Cindy Luongo Cassidy reiterated that seeking this Proclamation for Hays County was a collaborative effort and asked if the Lights Out Project could consider the County a partner and advocate. Judge Becerra assured her, “This Proclamation would lend itself to our support.”
An update in Hays Free Press News-Dispatch, August 10, 2022, is here.
Hays County and all of Texas is smack dab in the North American Central Flyway for millions of birds.
Go to BirdCast for Hays County to see birds above you in real time! During their spring and fall migrations, bright night lighting can distract them off course and send them crashing into buildings. Even we can’t see dangers at night as well with bright light glare. Healthful human sleep requires near-perfect darkness. And what the heck—we love the quiet comfort of a dark Hill Country night. Enjoy a recent photo essay on Hays nighttime beauty, Hays County Dusk to Dawn, here.
Know Friends of the Night Sky—it’s easy here. Fall Migration is August through November. Do yourself and Nature a favor: turn out all outdoor lights after 11 p.m. LIGHTS OUT, HAYS!
