Looking Over Bellatrix

The constellation Orion has always held a special fascination to me. The pattern is quite distinguishable, and it gives me an odd comfort when I am able to spot it in the night sky, unlike some other constellations whom others insisted resemble things like telescopes or lions.

It also marks to me that winter is here in full bloom. I don't have any particular love or hate for the season, but it does make me aware that certain things like rain and early nightfall are going to be the norm for awhile.

I remember seeing a graphic somewhere about how the constellation would look in the skies thousands of years from now. Other than looking nothing like the perfection it seems to have now, I tend to think that if we're still around then we'll be viewing it, and its resident stars like Betelguese and Rigel, from much closer in from spaceships or colonies.

Recently though, I caught it in the sky glimmering in a crystal clear, chilly night sky, just days after I was literally thousands of miles away in another country. It made me realize that I was home again, and that made me happy.