I woke up just a little while ago from a dream which was irrelevant to this story except for the very end. I looked up, and despite being at my apartments where there should be some light pollution, the sky was a beautiful cascade of many stars, the Milky Way was visible, there seemed to be such depth and velvetness overhead (I tend to dream with a sort of intense super-detail often, and this was exactly like that). There were meteors shooting up ahead every few seconds. Right now the Perseid meteor shower is going on, and even though we're past the peak, meteors are still being grabbed up by Earth's atmosphere. I'm almost tempted to go outside to see whether I can see any, although I know the city edge that I live on is pretty bleak for most skywatching. I really need to find a good stargazing spot and take my telescope there sometime.
Of course, I have seen a sky like that before. I've lived in the country plenty of times. And when I lived on Edwards Air Force Base in California, we not only had little light pollution (or any other kind), we were at a high altitude. I remember one of the parents driving us out onto the base away from the lights and it was total darkness, and we got up on the hood and roof of the car with blankets and just watched the stars and meteors. That was the Perseids, too. It saddens me that many children today will never see the stars like that.
Anyway, just wanted to share that bit. Time to head back to bed. I was gone by 8 pm and have slept almost seven hours as it is. I hope to get up in about an hour or two and do some things around the house. I've been going to bed in an attempt to avoid them, I think. I tell myself I'm just really sleepy, but let's face it, it's a trick. :)
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