Night Flight

It was a clear, cold evening as we took off from International Airport from Chennai and climbed westward above the city. Always enamored with "geography from above," I was delighted by the sea of lights that spread out beneath us and was able to identify all of the major roads and neighborhoods; we passed over our farm and headed up to the northwest suburbs before circling back to the airport.

As an environmentalist, I couldn't help but acknowledge the massive amount of energy that we use to light our cities and was somewhat reassured by the dark "green belts" that lace Metro Denver; the beauty of human landscapes, however pleasing to the eye, comes with a price.