Beautiful old broads search for shooting stars

Dear Ones,

50 billion planets in the Milky Way.  300 billion stars.  Reason enough to lift your eyes to the night skies, right?  Here is another compelling reason.  This week the Geminid meteor shower will peak on Saturday, Dec. 13^th  and Sunday, Dec. 14^th. 

This is the official start of Christmas for me.  Never mind the Advent wreaths or the liturgical calendar or the retail stores hurling their wares 24 hours a day.  One white hot silent steak of light thrills me down to my toes.

The first year we moved to Austin from Michigan years ago,  our whole family missed snow and ice skating on the creek beside our house and sledding on the hill.  No one had the Christmas spirit.  So I decided we’d watch the Geminid star show.  Trust me, no one was excited about it but we packed them all in the Jeep and went over Spicewood Springs Road to the edge of town and parked.  I got out the cocoa and we sat on the tailgate.  It was about 9 p.m.  Then the fireworks started…only there wasn’t any boom.  Just silent glowing threads plunging  across the northwest horizon.  The kids were speechless (really) with wonder.  It was the most awesome meteor show I ever witnessed.  Just a perfect mild clear Texas night filled with shooting stars.  Of course I secretly thought God put that show on for us.

Ever since that night, I wait for the Geminids.  Of course some years it’s cloudy and lately, the light pollution has increased.  Nevertheless, I’m hopeful.  I’ll set my chair out by the garage door (anytime after 9 ish will work).  The last quarter moon rises about 11:00 and will lighten the sky somewhat.  While I’m waiting, I’ll admire Orion striding across the southeast sky or notice the bright star high in the north.  That’s Cassiopeia.  Settle in and lift your face to the grandeur of a dark December night.  Notice the silence wrap around you.  Be patient.  In the cool stillness you may capture that magical sense of awe and wonder that comes unbidden with  noticing the wonders of nature.

“What draws one to astronomy is the longing of the soul to know its place in the universe.”     Chet Raymo