< Too Fast, Too Loud, Too Much

~alex

At least where I used to live for a considerable amount of time, the car density in rural areas increased just as significantly as in urban areas for a rather silly reason, that being most people having begun to merely lease cars and change them more often than their underwear. My street used to be calm; you never got to see more than three cars throughout the day, at best. Now, everyone got at least two cars, all of which are way too wide for the narrow streets going through this old village. It's gotten to a point where I mostly despise driving, mainly because my old mid-class Audi from the 90's gets pushed off the road by heavy, yet fragile city tanks and infotainment systems on wheels. But it's not just cars that have become, dare I say, ridiculous; I've lost count of all the shiny new tractors that sent an earthquake through my old living room and make the damaged asphalt underneath them vibrate visibly. House owners shamelessly exploiting subsidies also have decided to rebuild their homes to make them bigger – I used to have an incredible view from my bedroom window and always felt at peace the moment I saw the trees located around a soccer field, now the same view is blocked by a wooden facade and a short sheet metal chimney blowing carbon monoxide directly into my bedroom.

Never having lived in a city, yet being familiar with the concrete jungle, my old home – a village with less than 500 inhabitants – has become completely alien to me. The noise passes the thick walls of the old buildings, the cracks on the facades are growing faster and multiply, the air, despite the abundance of trees, is poorer than it used to be. And then there are the cyclists, all of which tend to decide to use the same tracks (and violate traffic laws, as if none of those apply to them at all) at the same time, not caring that they disturb and destroy fragile ecosystems by demanding that every track needs to be made of asphalt, so they can engage in races on them. Or the growing amount of dog owners that shouldn't own a dog in the first place and always let them walk around freely, despite the area hosting species of mammals and birds on the brink of extinction.

Even living in an unattractive village with a shrinking population no longer provides a true sense of peace from human activities. And just like in your case, I have noticed that the amount of stars I can observe with my naked human eyes decreased, despite half of the street lights now being turned off after midnight.

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