I think the first time I remember really looking at the stars was when Sputnik was orbiting overhead. My dad came and woke me up and said, “Come with me…I want to show you something.” He helped me into my coat and we stepped outside into the cool, night air. I was instantly alert, fully understanding this was unusual and an adventure. I shivered with the thrill of my dad sharing something special with me. That didn’t happen very often.
I remember he held my hand and pointed into the night sky and said, “See the stars?”
“Yes, daddy.”
“I want you to watch for a special star…it’s going to move across the sky. Not fast, like a shooting star. But pretty fast.” He pointed straight up above us and said, “There! See it?!”
It took me a few seconds of searching but there it was…a moving star!!! “I see it! I see it!” I shouted. It was, come to find out, the newly launched satellite…Sputnik. The Russians had beat us into space. I was only four years old when this little round ball went around and around our world. It was up there for twenty-one days…then it was done.
I’ve been in love with the night sky ever since that night at Grandma’s farm, holding my dad’s hand in the dark. There was a reverence about it, a sense of awe at the magnitude of it all. One summer after Grandma died, I came to WV for my high school reunion. It must have been in 2012…the August before Mr. Virgo died. I was staying at the farm, even though it was a good hour’s drive after the party let out at midnight. It was a hot August night and when I stepped out of the car into the inky blackness of the night, I looked up and stopped in my tracks. The stars looked like a million diamonds thrown on a black velvet cloth. The distinct stripe of the Milky Way slashing across the sky fascinated me. I laid down on the wheelchair ramp my uncle had built two decades before and placed my hands across my belly and stared for the longest time. Shooting stars streaked across the sky at irregular intervals. Crickets and katydids sang their love songs deep into the night. An owl hooted far up the holler behind the barn. And there…there was a satellite. Then another. And soon, another. The night sky is littered with space junk and communication satellites and spies anymore.
Now I have an app on my iPhone that identifies whatever star or constellation I point it at. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you’re out camping. There are several apps but the one I use is the free version of SkyView. The sky will never again be like that night in 1957 when I first shared an adventure with my dad. ❤️
“who made the great lights— His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.”
Psalm 136:7-9 NIV
There are too many security lights nowadays to be able to see the stars. I remember those nights years ago when it was pitch black at night. We also slept with doors unlocked & windows open without worrying about thieves coming in. We could also hear the crickets, frogs, owls & other critters during the night.
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Love it! I too have memories of camping and the stars. I’ll have to get that app. We have some light pollution but can still see them here in central Texas, in the country.
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My maternal grandmother died at the ripe old age of 106. She was the love of our lives. Six months after her death I arrived at my home in the country late at night. It was a clear night. Millions of stars to be seen. I looked up at that beautiful sky and said to myself, ” Hello grandma. I know you’re up there somewhere.” Just then a shooting star flew across the sky. Coincidence? Yes. But I choose to believe it was grandmother sending her blessings of love.
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Oh Ginny. That August night sounds like a dream to me. I’m also a stargazer but I live in the city and don’t get a good view of the stars, and have to drive e pretty far out to see the splendor of the night sky. It’s on my bucket list to go to the McDonald observatory in the Big Bend of Texas. Thank you for sharing that memory.
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When I was a little girl my father would take my sister and I for a ride in his old DeSoto , Dad would drive out to La VILLITA , a river several miles from town , He would park near the bridge and sit my sister and I on the wide fender and point out the stars to us . We could hear the sound of the frogs and crickets and all those night sounds . It was very dark and the sky looked so beautiful with the stars twinkling in the dark night sky. Dad would pull out his harmonica and play for us and we loved that . dad lived to be 93 and i loved telling him how much i loved those memories and he once again would pull out his harmonica and play me a tume . Miss you dad .
Oh…that touched my heart. Thank you for sharing, dear one. ❤️
Living in Denver the night skies are not really visible. My husband, now gone, and I would camp in the Colorado State Forest at Michigan Reservoir near Walden. At night you can see millions of stars as It is so dark and no light pollution up there. The night skies are so beautiful in summer and winter. Thanks for the memory Ginny.
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I remember looking at Sputnik when I was a child living in Daytona Beach!! I hadn’t thought about that in years!! It was a great childhood memory!! Thanks!!
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