The waning amber glow of sodium street lights

You know what?!? You think too much! 

Nobody ever told me that before... ~ Sean Bean and Bobby Money from Ronin (1997)

Like all the Gen-Xers my youth in the Chicago and the suburbs of 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s was framed by an amber glow. These lights along the highways, alleys, and streets of the City and her suburbs operated on High Pressure Sodium Vapor lights, first developed by General Electric in 1965.

Ubiquitously, installed across the Nation during the energy crisis of the 1970's, the orange glow is my preferred color as I drive into work during the early pre-dawn or through the dark winter nights of the early sunset. But, as with the gaslight of the 19th century, new (and better?) technology has emerged for lighting large areas; the LED.

Chicago is undertaking the largest street light modernization program of this century. Over a quarter million high-pressure sodium lights are going to be replaced by LED street lights by 2021. There is an interactive map showing the progress thus far along with frequently asked questions.

I began moving towards CFL bulbs in my home over a decade ago, but resisted the LED bulbs. The light emitted was far too harsh. This has also been my experience with LED headlights on vehicles and the early LED street lights, as well. The issue was the "blue light" from 5000 degree Kelvin bulbs which produced LED light dubbed "Daylight". The use of these bulbs produced far too much light pollution as well when simply swapped into existing light poles.

To counteract this the Chicago Smart Lighting Program, "thoroughly researched the issue and relied
on the guidance of experts, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Medical Association, and the Illuminating Engineering Society. Based on this guidance, the City is requiring all LED light fixtures used in the CSLP be “soft white” (i.e. have a Correlated Color Temperature of 3000K) and are designed to focus light downwards on streets and sidewalks and limit light trespass into people’s homes and the night sky."

The new LED lights are going to produce far better light coverage on the streets and sidewalks and save millions in energy costs a year for the City, eventually suburbs and the rest of the State. But, in wistful moments I'll miss the orange-lighted memories of the past.

Can't the NFL convince* John Madden to come out of retirement for Thanksgiving games?

And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.  - James Earl Jones, Field of Dreams (1989)

I've always wondered why the NFL hasn't been able to get John Madden to broadcast a Thanksgiving Day Game since his retirement 10 years ago. With the Turducken award and Holiday repartee it would bring back the nostalgia of those days when as Madden says, "it doesn't get any better than this". Perhaps, there have been quiet efforts by the NFL or TV Networks to coax John Madden to announce the Dallas or Detroit game on Thanksgiving and we don't know about them but, I've never heard any rumors.

After his successful coaching career with the Oakland Raiders, Madden was for 30 years the best color commentator in Football. Growing up and listening to Madden and Pat Summeral announce games throughout the 80's and 90's with a drink and a whap and a boom and his love of Brett Favre's moxie, Barry Sanders' ellusiveness, or Nate Newton's pancakes were almost as big a draw for the games as the action on the field itself.

But, like most things, perhaps it's the old MacArthur line about Old Soldiers fading away. Madden is after all 83 and has been retired since 2009 and only a smattering of players are still playing in the league when he last announced a game. And, most likely, Madden simply no longer wants to announce a game. But, no matter how long it's been Madden knows football and it would be something on Thanksgiving to hear Madden's sound effects and see his telestrator pen light up a game.

*- perhaps convince is the wrong word and the title should be; Can't the NFL give John Madden what ever he would want/need to come out of retirement for a Thanksgiving game?