Sunrise on Sleeping Bag and Boy

Dark country skies lay like islands of peace in the sea of artificial light that glitters across most of our continent. Last night, as the last light was shut off in our house, only the 3/4 moon lit the sky until it slid behind the large leafed maples and melted away leaving only the stars to light the night. My husband, my littlest son and I threw sleeping bags on the ground and watched the sky. In spite of smoke and fog shouldering its way through the valleys, overhead the firmament was clear.

Moonlight washed over the sky but, as it receded, it left handfuls of shiny detritus glistening wetly in its wake. My little one snuggled close and pointed out the brightest stars and searched for “the pictures” in the sky. I showed him the Big Bear and together we found the North Star as I told him that people traveling at night could use the tiny point to find their way home.

Like a handful of fire thrown by Zeus, across the East a meteor arced. “Look, look,” I gasped out so afraid he would miss it that I could scarcely loose the word from my tangled tongue.

“Ohh,” was all he said in a long sweet sigh.

Last night was the best viewing for the annual Perseid Shower but there are still more tonight. Should you fall asleep missing all the shooting stars, don’t worry, waking up with dew and sunshine is magic enough.