10/22/2008

Up In The Sky Sometime

I walked last night
Should say I wandered
I saw the galaxies
And so I pondered

How I would love to roam there, up there
Up in the sky sometime
"Up In The Sky Sometime" - Jonathan Richman

The Big Dipper, distinct in form, glittered into my sweaty eyes on a still and warmish autumn night amidst a set of burpees.

Wow, that sentence sounds like a candidate for submission to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

But really, the fanciest gym couldn't beat the sight of bedazzling stars dancing around in the black sea above me.

I loved astronomy as a kid, learning the basics about the world of stars before my ever-shifting interests went on to other things like airplanes and stamp collecting. Maybe this is where my scientific mind truly outshone my artistic mind. I really dug the concrete stuff like the life-cycle of a star, the heat at which stars burned and the corresponding colors, the chemistry that allowed stars to function, and so far.

On the other hand, the constellations stumped me for the most part. I checked out books from the library that cataloged the constellations to try to figure it all out. Some were easy enough - Orion, the two Dippers, and Cassiopeia - while others escaped my mind completely.

And even then, the Dippers are part of Ursa Major & Ursa Minor - the Big and Little Bear. How someone got bears out of those particular masses of stars I will never know.

But maybe trying to figure out the sky from someone else's POV is a fool's errand. If you really think about it, anyone can create their own constellations out of the hundreds of stars in the sky above. Many perform that same exercise with clouds as they float on overhead on a day where you probably have better things to do but couldn't imagine doing them for the next half-hour or so. So why not the stars?

As I glanced toward the south, I spotted in the stars the runner, both feet elevated off the ground as they stretched for the finish line.

Then I completed my last burpee set. I think someone glancing down from a neighbor's window at me might have thought I was completely nuts by then.


5 comments:

Doctor Err said...

Buddy... I had the same problem when I was in school and I still can't find the big dipper. I suppose, most people would call me pretty artistic (particularly considering I spent a large chunk of my childhood hanging out watching some of the best decorative painter folk artists do their thing in classes). But what I am is horrible at spacial stuff. You should see me load a dish washer... :)
On a totally 'nuther note... I'd love to see you write something for wordsmith sometime. You really have a knack, dude.

JIntorcio said...

First, I luvvvv Jonathan Richman...

"I have walked under moon and stars.
Skyscrapers shone in their dark majesty.
In this otherwordly land of ours.
I've walked by the buildin's, I've walked by the malls,
I've walked by the skyscrapers, lonely and dark.
In the lonely financial zone
By the sea
I have walked under moon and stars."

Second... Try Stellarium: http://www.stellarium.org My kids and I take the laptop out in the back yard and use it to figure stuff out. Sometimes. Often, we're still puzzled. but it helps.

Joe said...

Hey Doc - what is wordsmith?

JInt - Lonely Financial Zone is a great song; I've had that playing thru my mind a few times during dark foggy nights as a younger person. Thanks for the tip re: stellarium

Stephen said...

I never have been able to figure out which starts are which. In fact more than once I thought I identified the North Star only to realize that it was moving and was probably either a plane or a satellite. But I do enjoy reading your writing.

Kris said...

I only really know the obvious constellations too. My favorite celestial sight is a meteor shower. I spent a very cold night a few years ago in the middle of nowhere Ohio, hearing coyotes howl when a train went by in the distance, watching a spectacular Leonid shower.

Here is the Wordsmith link. I agree with the Doc, you have a knack for writing and I would like to see you try it too.

http://wordsmithsunlimited.blogspot.com/