Dan Apted isn’t the only one who observes streetlights.

I went fishing with my brother on his 1972 TollyCraft which is moored in Edmonds. To save on fuel we headed a short distance south past the old Union Oil dock. We only caught a few shakers but my brother is a die-hard so we kept fishing until well past dark.

On the way back in I watched the trails of light from street lamps near the shore follow us like the moon skimming the treetops when you dive down a darkened road. Hard not to notice.

It occurred to me that the entire surface of Puget Sound, at least within range of that light, was lit by it. The narrow fingers of luminance reaching across the water to me were only what my eye could perceive. Only the photons that struck my eye, reflected at the necessary angle, were visible.

The light tribute to the World Trade center victims brought these thoughts to mind. No matter where you stood in New York or whether you were in a plane, the lights were visible anywhere from any angle. We only saw the light reflected back to our eyes off of particles in the air. But the light, and Image, existed everywhere.

I’m not sure what I’m trying to get at. Maybe it’s like “if a tree falls in the woods…”