It was great to see some of our old friends and to make new friends at the ASLA Annual Meeting in San Jose last month . . . While I have enjoyed so many of those meetings over the years, this one proved especially rewarding as I had so many opportunities to discuss the state of the profession. Top of the list is the IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) meeting next year in Calgary, Canada. It wasn't that long ago that ASLA pulled out of IFLA for several legitimate reasons, but now with the USA back in the fold the meeting is coming to North America and they couldn't have picked a better place to hold it. The Dark Sky initiatives are lighting up the controversy front . . . Almost every major streetlight manufacturer has some form of compliant product line with Spring City really pushing the market . . . But not all dark sky is good dark sky . . . I've heard it said that the astronomer who heads the Dark Sky Society wants to be able to see the Milky Way from downtown L.A. . . . Well for starters that will never happen and for sure we shouldn't want that to happen . . . One proponent was heard to say that even car headlights should be outlawed and that if they were we would all get used to the darkness and with adjusted eyes be able to drive at night without the lights . . . OK that is way to extreme but one scenario really illuminates the topic as follows . . . You pull into a gas station at midnight and the whole place is lit like a Christmas tree (not a seasonal tree ; -) . . . Is this: a) A nakedly unabashed marketing tool; b) A necessary brightness required when pouring high octane explosives into your car; or c) a required safety measure to thwart criminal activity? And what about the 88 year old driver, whose eyes adjust slowly, who leaves this bastion of illuminance and pulls unto a darkened highway with local wildlife (including high school students) running to and fro across the road . . . Can the gas station be less bright? Should the street be brighter the closer it is to the gas station? Should we just turn off all the lights and close shop when the sun goes down . . . This is one issue that will continue to appear in these pages and before these Dark Sky initiatives become ordinances, there needs to be a lot of rational discussion that includes a wide spectrum of participants . . . You can voice your opinion by at landscapearchitect.com by selecting this OpEd and using the "Letter to the Editor" function. Your comments will be reported both here and online . . . And what of the latest elections . . . You all knew I was going to say something about that . . . But age must be creeping into my knickers and instead of gloating about the Republican held houses, I'll point out a statement I heard Ted Kennedy say after a 11/7/02 speech by President Bush . . . According to Kennedy there are 280 million people in the United States and if 70,000 had voted the other way the Democrats would have held the Senate . . . Parity seems the rule of the day . . . So until next month when LASN presents it's Annual Yearbook and Forecast Issue . . . Let us know what you think by using the "Letter's to the Editor" Function at the New landscapearchitect.com . . . and of course . . . God Bless!!!