Meteors

Around 4 a.m. I got up for a trip to the bathroom and remembered it was a meteor shower night and the best time to see them was just before dawn. So, being the nerd that I am, I grabbed my phone, a couple throws and a quilt from the sofa and went outside to a starry night with just a few clouds. I dragged the lounge chair from the deck out to the yard and settled in, using the Google Sky app to determine where the Perseids would be.

Before I had my covers sorted around me to keep out the morning chill, I saw my first meteor, a bright streak shooting across the sky. And another, and then yet another.  The photo below is not mine because those meteors are fast and I am not. But this will give you an idea of my early morning on the chaise.

My eyes would start to shut (I was still a bit sleepy) and another meteor would streak across the sky, reminding me to keep my eyes open. Quiet outside, not even any crickets cricketing, it was just me lying in the yard, watching.

When it comes to beauty and fantastic art, I am a crier. So I lay there watching the stars and crying. Maybe, too, I cried because it was two years ago that my parents died and those stars made me miss them. Terribly.

Then I heard my dad singing, "I've got tears in my ears from lying on my back in my bed while I cry over you," and I smiled and stopped my blubbering.

From the lounge chair, I could see the crescent moon, Jupiter and Venus keeping it company, and as dawn began to show up, an owl hooted from across the creek.

I realized how lucky I am to be alive. And how humbling it is to lie on my back, looking at all the suns in the sky, wondering if some other 60 year old lady is out there somewhere doing the same thing.

The owl hooted some more, the sky became lighter, and I went into the dark house and made coffee.