Norwood-based, award-winning writer Craig Childs is at it again, writing a book from his thirst for adventure and answers to the things that occupy his mind.  

Two upcoming events—one in Naturita and one in Norwood—offer the opportunity to hear what Childs is thinking and to contribute knowledge and stories to his upcoming book about dark skies.  

“This book has a screaming deadline (it’s due April 21), and I just started writing about two weeks ago,” said Childs, who has been researching the subject for “a long time.” 

The subject is dark skies in the Norwood region and around the U.S., and the effects of artificial light on the health of Earth and its inhabitants. 

“This has always been in my mind, because everywhere I’ve lived for 30 years now has been a dark sky location, and Norwood’s official status makes it even more interesting,” he said.  

The Town of Norwood was designated an International Dark Sky Community in 2019 after a few years of hard work by a few dedicated folks—mainly Creighton Wood and Bob Grossman. Childs will be chatting with them soon.  

Nucla-Naturita was designated an International Dark Sky Community in 2021. 

In January, Childs and fellow adventurer Irvin Fox-Fernandez set out on a 200-mile bike trek from Las Vegas, Nevada, and rode north to the darkest place Childs could find on a map of the U.S.  

He said he wanted to experience the journey from the one of the brightest to one of the darkest in short increments of time and distance.  

But the book isn’t just about the bike ride. His research brought a number of surprises.  

“I was expecting this to be a pretty simple book on a simple topic,” said Childs. “This is a much bigger issue than I expected. I’m realizing how much artificial light is changing human health.” 

He mentioned one issue is exposure to artificial light at night, called LAN, and how it increases cancer rates, especially breast cancer. 

While the issue is bigger than Childs expected, he said it’s also simpler: “Just turn off lights at night. It seems easy.” 

Norwood is already nice and dark.  

“Our measurements show that we are among the darkest places in the country,” said Creighton Wood, treasurer for Norwood Dark Sky Advocates (NDSA).   

“I am amazed at how many people talk about our dark skies here,” he added, citing a recent annual report to Dark Sky International, the organization that certifies dark sky spaces, whether they be communities, parks, or reserves. 

One resident, who lives just a few miles southwest of Norwood in a relatively dark section of Wright’s Mesa, said that he used to count 45-48 dusk-to-dawn outdoor security lights. After NDSA started educating area residents, he watched that number dwindle to just three.  

Both evenings, Childs said, are mainly storytelling events. He’ll be reading from his journal and other recent writings in Naturita on Feb. 22 at Flying Bear Pizza and in Norwood on March 6 at The Livery. Both events begin at 7 p.m. 

“I’ll be telling stories from New York City, Los Angeles and other places where I’ve had interesting experiences with light,” he said. “And I’ll take people on our quest to find the darkest place in Nevada, the foundation of this book.” 

Virginia Ericson of Flying Bear Pizzeria said the event is “a great opportunity for the community to come in and talk about something that affects all of us.” 

In Norwood, members of NDSA will be present to answer questions about Norwood’s dark skies. 

For more information, visit the Facebook pages of Flying Bear Pizzeria or Norwood Colorado Dark Sky Advocates.