I have lost an old and very dear friend. The Milky Way is gone. Until this summer I looked up at night and saw her beauty stretched out across the night sky, stars so thick that they formed a cloud of light made up of millions and millions of stars. Now I look up, and I can literally count the stars in the heavens.

How was this wonder of nature lost? It was washed away by 287 bollard lights in Fountain Park. Does anyone else feel the loss? Does anyone else feel robbed of this God-given gift? Does anyone else mourn the departure of this spectacular presence?

Well, the Milky Way is gone. Andromeda, the only galaxy visible with the naked eye, is no longer visible. I can never again (without staying up until midnight) point out the Big Dipper and tell the Native American tale about how it came to be in the sky. Unless…

Unless…the lumens emitted by the 287 lights are reduced.

Unless…the number of lights lit is reduced by at least half.

Unless…the 287 lights, like the Fountain, are simply turned off at 9:15.

Unless…287 citizens each donate enough money to replace one waist high bollard with a modest ankle height, low lumen light.

Unless…the citizens of Fountain Hills band together to take back the night sky.

There are options to regain our night sky. Who is interested in joining me?