I love shooting stars.
For the past year, until a week ago, I lived on a farm outside the town of Athens, Tennessee. Apart from the faint glow emanating from Athens, on a moonless night, the sky is completely dark. Black as pitch, except for the extraordinary array of stars.
One night several weeks ago, I arrived at the farm late one Sunday night from a weekend trip to Atlanta, and the stars were even more spectacular than I was used to. I didn't have to go to work until 5 pm the next day, so I figured I'd stay up and watch the sky for a while.
And then there it was. The tiny streak of light, so faint that it could have been my imagination.
I find nothing so difficult as walking away from a meteor shower. So after that first meteor, I was hooked. I lay on the hood of my car and watched for nearly 2 hours. I lost count of the stars after 5 or 6, but I figure by the end of it I must have seen 15 or so.
I hadn't eaten anything in hours, so my stomach was rumbling pretty badly. Nevertheless, I couldn't tear myself away. I tried all the tricks I could think of. I would say to myself "ok, if you don't see one in the next 10 seconds, go inside." I would count 1 - missssssissssssipppppppi -2 ..... and then even after I had drawn 10 seconds out to 100, I would say "ok, next time I see a shooting star, I'll go in."
Seconds later, I'd see one. But it certainly was faint. So faint that it might have been wishful thinking. And when they show up in the corner of my eye like that, how can I be sure? I'll go inside after the NEXT one. So it went for hours.
What is so mesmerizing to me about shooting stars? Why can't I tear myself away? The little streaks of glory entrance me so. Maybe it has to do with how fleeting they are. Perhaps it's the knowledge that a shooting star is an extraordinarily violent occurrence somewhere, far off - yet to me it doesn't even make a sound.
Shooting stars are like fireworks that nobody told you about, and discovering them is like walking into a surprise party. What are they celebrating? They won't say, but they sure seem jubilant about something.
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2 comments:
Virtual hug in exchange for more musings?
*hug*
Come to boston and I'll get you one for real.
Miss your writing. Keep it up.
I love that, "they're jubilant about something."
We need jubilance on these October days of financial woes and election bickering. Why can't they talk about their philosophy of government and citizenship, rather than arguing about who said what when?
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