People are hoarding incandescent light bulbs in anticipation of  federal energy laws that will take effect in 2014 and, basically, take them off the market.  An article in the Times explains that this is because incandescents don’t contain mercury in them, as more efficient fluorescent bulbs do, and are considered safer and cleaner.

There’s no mention of the two best reasons to hoard incandescent bulbs, namely that they’re perfectly formed, and that they produce a quality of light as dazzling and delicate as sunlight.  How can one even compare the elemental, ephemeral form of a typical incandescent bulb to the twisted mess of a screw-in fluorescent?  Much of it is nostalgia, which the Times covered dutifully in an earlier piece.  But something in it is fundamental.  Fluorescents have a cool, cruel bluish cast; they suck the warmth out of a space.  My hope is that the new legislation will push manufacturers to make superior fluorescents.