Dark Skies

Borrego Springs is one of only a dozen or so dark sky communities in the US. These are communities dedicated to implementing and enforcing lighting ordinances, dark sky education, and citizen support that limits light pollution of the sky at night.  All of this makes for excellent stargazing. So we spent part of our last evening in Borrego Springs outside, on our backs, taking in the amazing display of the night sky.

​Today, we leave for Arizona, where I am happy to share that there are four dark sky communities, and a couple more in Texas, so our stargazing opportunities continue. For my Midwestern friends, Beverly Shores, IN also carries the designation. 
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On the way out of the desert, we passed a variety of desert landscapes, ranging from sandy to rocky, vegetation to barren. We again passed the sad Salton Sea, and drove through part of the Imperial Valley, where irrigation allows for production of carrots, salad greens, alfalfa, dates, beets, and citrus fruits. It also contains the largest catfish farm west of the Mississippi (yuck!).