I find it impossibly wonderful to be standing outside at 11:45 p.m. in 60 degree weather, gazing up at a Valentine’s moon through my telescope. This is the Midwest. We’re supposed to be knee deep in snow and praying for sunshine. I’m not complaining, I’m just in awe of the weather we’ve been having.
I’ve loved the moon and stars for as long as I can remember. I grew up in the country in Nebraska and the night sky, unmarred by city lights, was something I never grew tired of looking at. Interest in space in general was no doubt fueled by Star Wars, Star Trek and the introduction of science fiction literature into my life, but I credit my fascination with the moon and the constellations to Ms. Stewart, my 6th grade teacher.
Ms. Stewart had been a high school teacher before coming to our little country school and she brought with her the inspiration to expect more and do more with our class (6th, 7th, and 8th grade) in preparation for high school and beyond. She taught us how to do term papers (something I didn’t appreciate at the time) and she spent money to get better science equipment and worked with the other teachers to expand our little library. The thing that she did that stuck with me the most, however, was that she rented an inflatable planetarium that filled one whole room of our two-room schoolhouse. It came with lessons on tape that we listened to while visions of the stars were projected overhead. I remember laying in there and just being in awe of the universe. That awe has never left. Every time I visit my parents in Nebraska, no matter the season, I spend time standing outside and just gazing at the stars.
One of many things I appreciated right away when we moved from Tulsa to Blue Springs was the fact that we were moving to an area where the city lights don’t interfere with a good view of the stars. I had wanted a telescope for years and was not willing to spend money on one that I wouldn’t be happy with. The one I really want would require a large investment. I had been toying around with the idea of purchasing a less expensive one just to start with but knew I’d be disappointed to spend a few hundred dollars for something that wasn’t quite what I wanted. I usually don’t spend a lot of time praying for material things, but one day when I was really thinking about this I just said some simple prayer to the effect that I’d really like a telescope of some sort, amen. A few days later Tori came home to tell me that her best friend’s grandparents had a telescope that they were selling in a garage sale and Tori had asked if we could come take a look at it before the sale. I didn’t want to get my hopes up at all so I asked Mary to stop by one day and just see what it was like. She came home with a wonderful telescope for the whopping price of $15. This telescope is essentially the same as the starter telescope that I was thinking about getting. The magnification that I get is better than the picture posted above. I can’t tell you how thrilled I’ve been with this. It was such a blessing and all the more so that my daughter had known enough about her father that she knew I would like this.
So tonight when I came home from work I was able to spend a little time gazing at the moon on an unseasonably warm February evening. Thank you Lord for being gracious enough to occasionally bless us with things don’t really need but so desperately want, and thanks for using my daughter as the deliverer of this gift as it makes it all the more special.
amen!
i actually just got my first telescope.. my company had a choice of gifts last year for their anniversary. tho i don’t know where i’ll be able to use it yet (might have to drive out to some field).. i’m pretty anxious to try it out!
Must be nice to work for a company that gives gifts!
well we didn’t get a christmas bonus.. that might have taken the place on one.. :/
When I started out at my company we got Christmas bonuses and a party….then gift certificates to the local mall, and then nothing…..I am thankful to have a job, however, so I shouldn’t complain.
true.. with all the layoffs going on at my company, i should be VERY thankful!
I am not sure how old I was, but one year a telescope is what I wanted for Christmas. I got my wish from my grandparents. I loved my telescope! Wish I still had it. We lived out in the country, so there were no city lights, not even dusk to dawn lights. It was completely quiet and dark.
I need to bring mine over this spring/summer some night and we can all break open a bottle of wine and check out the moon.
KEEP LOOKING UP!
How hilarious Abby! Anyone else ever seen Jack Horkheimer on PBS. His series used to be called “Star Hustler” but now its “Star Gazer”. This was on pbs when I was young and was the last thing they showed before signing off. Very entertaining but also very cheesy. His website is: here and you can watch episodes online.
hmm.. i don’t see any links?
try again, I messed it up momentarily. The word “here” should be highlighted. Anyone else want to let me know if this is now working as it looks correct on my end.
The link is working. I love that cheesy, yet informative show.
Carl, slight suggestion… perhaps change your CSS so that links are bold (or some other noticeable text style).
On Firefox, the link color is indistinguishable from the non-link text. The mouse overs work, but it can be hard to know what to look for.
I don’t know a thing about astronomy. Wish I did, though.
Ok, astro-geeks, riddle me this: how do you know with such accuracy how far away some stars are and how long they’ve been shining?
Rob….damn you Firefox geeks and your “change this, do that”….stuff….. 🙂 Sorry, I’m still a newbie geek and its hard enough for me to make changes so that things look right in IE. I’ll get James, my internet guru (sad, isn’t it) on this right away.
In answer to your other question about how do you tell how far apart things are: The aliens told us, of course!
Rob, I use firefox and don’t have that problem.
Either you are using a Mac or if you are at work on windblows then you are color blind.
Yah, well you are dumb, James. And a smelly pirate! (sorry, just saw Anchorman, and still reeling from the hilarity genius that is Will Ferrell)
Lol, Carl while you’re at it — redesigning your site purely for my sake! — why don’t you consider ditching the brown. That’s like, so earthy and mid-90’s.
I’m not dumb, smelly maybe, but not dumb!
And you should never start a sentence with the word, “and”.
Shows how little you know…brown is back in baby! Actually this template (except the moons) was designed by someone else and is currently the only template for this software that doesn’t look crappy. Version 1.5 is supposed to be up and stable soon and at that point a redesign will probably be called for. I want something in blacks and greys….something to go more with the whole ‘stainless steel’ motiff
Just for Rob I made some slight cosmetic changes….didn’t want him to think I didn’t care.
It’s ugly, change it back.
WordPress 1.5 is released today!
http://wordpress.org/download/
If you want me to upgrade for you let me know.