Starry, Starry Morn

As the season moves on it is getting progressively darker in the mornings when I go out for my run.  When I went out this morning the very bright moon of last night had set and the stars were so brilliant and clear that I had to stop and wonder at the stark beauty of the sky.  This is one of the benefits of country living, away from city lights.  I especially enjoy going out on the deck late on a cold, crisp winter night. On a clear night it’s almost as if you could reach up and touch the stars.  It was a great weekend for star watching.  We had some old friends up for the weekend and we were out on the deck Saturday night sitting around a fire, cooking marshmallows for smors and enjoying the occasional shooting star.  I was reminded of a night long ago in Central America.  I was just a lieutenant and we were on a training exercise in Honduras.  We were dropped off, exhausted and soaked, by helicopter on top of a stone peak that thrust out of the jungle.  As I lay down, trying to find a comfortable position amongst the rocks, the clouds cleared and the most brilliant night sky came into view.  The moon was so large and bright that I understood how ancient societies came to worship the moon as a deity.  For a cold, tired lieutenant, that night, it was divine.