Short post tonight — computer problems on my laptop has caused a problem with the hard drive, and my computer isn’t working at all. I know I’m singing to the choir when I talk about how hard it is to not be able to connect to cyberspace. Sort of reminds me of what it must have been like to live in the mountains 25 years ago before the advent of the Internet. What exactly did people do with their time in the evening? Oh, that’s right, they relaxed, read books, talked with each other, went for walks, etc.
With my computer dead, I am temporarily borrowing my husband’s but also seeing this as an opportunity rather than a loss. Tonight is one of those crystal clear, cool mountain nights, and as the moon begins to wanes, the stars appear more vividly. Bryon and I just sat on the deck for awhile, sitting in the silence, and a shooting star blazed across the sky. Living in Nederland, you get enough darkness to notice these things, although turning to the east, you can spot the glow of the city lights and its light pollution. But turning west brings views of constellations and planets and blackness.
I’ve been fortunate to spend some time in very remote places through my work with the National Park Service. Part of the joy of that is being able to truly enjoy the night skies in all its splendor. I saw more shooting stars than I will ever be able to recall during a night spent on a dome in Yosemite, lying there until the wee hours of the morning during the Perseids Meteor Showers. Later on, I spent time in Southern Utah standing a Milky Way that was so vibrant, it looked like someone had thrown powdered sugar across the sky. And tonight, without my computer’s glow to suck me in, I gaze upon the horizong, just starting to see some of those winter constellations making their first appearance.
If you live in a city, please consider taking a night to wonder out in the country, or up in the mountains and just spend some time sitting silently in the darkness taking it all in. Like many things in nature, our night skies area disappearing and need conserving as well. And like the mountains that I so love, they are thing of a beauty to appreciate and revel in.
