I have often been asked why I like living in the country so much, and there are many reasons I can give, but none make it so clear than coming home on a crystal clear night like tonight.
It’s already dark when I arrived home, my dogs anxious for their evening walk The night sky is, as I mentioned above, crystal clear. I am forty miles from major metro lights, and being out in the country, there is just a little bit of light leakage across the sky from the smaller rural ciities. There are no street lights, and it is late enough that the few houses around me have their lights out.
Putting the leashes on my dogs, we went out into the night for their final P and P patrol for the day, and I marveled at the beauty and serenity of the night sky above me.
The Big Dipper is the most recognizable constellation, and one of the few I can identify without any aid. This is something I should work on changing; I need to learn the consteallations.
I have never gotten over how beautiful a night sky is out here. Nothing like what I have lived with during all my previous adult years, living in San Diego, LA, or the SF Bay area, where the night sky is overwhelmed by the city lights, washing out many of the stars that are clearly visible to me here.
Soon, I think, I shall have to get my camera out and try my hand at some time lapse photography, and post it on my site. It is the most remarkable sight to behold, and unlike my travels to remote places where there is virtually no light polution, I get this on every clear night.
And then I thank the Lord that I am able to live like this, out in the country, surrounded by farms, woods and wild life, and able to enjoy the tranquility of a marvelous starry sky.
