The Stars

~A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really... "Do the stars gaze back?" Now *that's* a question.
~Stardust

So, the other night I was outside just after the sun set. I'd been helping my dad get ready for the preschool open house but my brother was helping him in the shed and I wasn't going to be able to do much. So I went over and climbed on the tramp.

I laid down and starred at the sky. It was quiet and peaceful-lately I always seem to have music on in the background. I could hear crickets somewhere in the neighborhood. The tramp moved slightly beneath me as I breathed. I watched the sky as it faded to a dark blue. Right above me, in the middle of the sky, was the darkest.

The horizon all around me was still a bright, turquoise blue-the kind everyone seems to think is beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I don't recall seeing the moon.

It faded. Like the painting exercises we always did in school-adding a little black with each stroke or box, leading to the center of the sky. Or adding a little water to lighten each stroke on the way out. I just watched it. I hadn't noticed how beautiful it could be. We always seem to focus on the sun going down, the orange and pink clouds.

I watched as the stars begun to appear. They started in that dark area, the one farthest from the light. I've always loved stars; they're amazing. Amazing how far away they are, yet how they shine so bright. How they're different sizes. They make patterns and shapes in the sky... but they're not set every so far apart. It's natural.

I had some time to think. I forgot the neighborhood around me-the electronics and music and worries. I thought about the sky, what it could show me. I thought of the popular quote saying that when it's dark enough we can see the stars.

I've always taken that quotes as a kind of truth, haven't really thought about it. I pondered on my own life-not like I don't have the time to think all day at work. It's just different in that setting. I'm not going to share what I thought, what I learned, what I wondered... I share this to hopefully make you think.

I quite enjoyed those twenty or thirty minutes I spent laying on my trampoline, starring at the stars. I think I'll have to do that more often.