You lay down on your back on the cool earth, the grass crunching beneath your body as the late night chill of October seeps through your clothes. You are 13 years, 1 month, 2 weeks, and a few days old. You have only just begun middle school you feel strong, young, and invigorated. Lying on your back and gazing upon the stars, you lose yourself in their depth and immensity. You feel alone even though you can hear the friendly chatter of your family a few yards away. The stars compel you though, so you stay where you are even though chills are racing up and down your body causing you to shiver internally. A funny thought crosses your mind; if this was some corny sappy romance film there would be a guy with you to hold you and keep you warm. Snickering, you dismiss this idea, such distractions do not allow for deep thought. You’ve never had a boyfriend anyway so what’s the thinking?

Yeah, that little more that 3 year old memory popped into my head a couple days ago while getting kindling and emptying the ash pan for one of our woodstoves. It made me laugh. I still star gaze. That’s what produced both the memory and thus the birth of this expansion.

So remembering this memory brought on some pretty deep star gazing thought. Looking at the stars all those years ago I felt alone because I had no one to share it with, no family and no friends to share it with. I thought this because I was lying there alone, but I wasn’t really alone. The stars are seen by more than just me, and have been for millions upon billions of years. Now when I look up at those stars I feel as if we are all connected. I always watch them alone and yet beautifully not alone, I watch them alone and in the quiet and calm of my mind I think. Looking at how ancient and beautiful those stars are and how safe and preserved they are in their own universes makes me feel as if anything can last. It makes me realize just how much time has passed since those stars were born. When I stare I feel as if I can feel the earth turning beneath me. As if I can feel every being turning their eyes to the sky with awe and marvel. So mysterious, touched only by our eyes and the voluminous vacuums of space. You see the day time sky doesn’t have the same affect. Everyone around the world is seeing it differently. Time zones have a great affect on this also. But the night, the stars are shared by all as is the moon and sun. We all star gaze or sky gaze. All of us need to have something to set our eyes upon as they ascend and that thing is the sky. We are not alone in this act – we’ve been doing it for eons. It has always been there, without the sky our earth would be exposed to the cold groping eyes of space, with only the stars, sun, and moon to give us warmth, and no color to brighten the day. How curious to have no daytime sky to be exposed to the night for the continuous amount of all time. I believe we would truly feel isolated without the hues of blue, purple, and green, alone and cold without the shades of gold, orange, and fuchsia. We depend on our skies both day and night no matter how much we take them for granted.