Too hot to handle, too cold to hold?
Well I’m off for a few days starting this evening. It is a much needed break form the monotony of everyday existence. The mission, should we choose to accept it, is a camping trip down to the Keys. What a beautiful place. Of course there is no way I could possibly afford to live there full time, but it is nice to visit (see also Taos and Snoqualmie Mountain).
Aside from needing the break, camping is always a little challenging to our comfort level. Personally, I’m already a little squeamish about being in the “wild.” In this case, it is a K.O.A., but I digress. Compared to my high speed internet enriched, DVR enhanced world were every episode of “Family Guy” is readily at hand, the thought of community showers, no AC and a complete absence of the two boxes I spend most of the day staring at, it will be a huge change of pace. Hopefully it will also be a good one.
Last time I was in the Keys, I saw some of the most beautiful stars. Even with a few K-Marts and some major tourist traffic, there isn’t enough light bouncing off the little islands to block the stars. I’ve seen some amazing night sky’s in my time. In the high desserts of New Mexico, not only are you at a different elevation, but a different longitude and latitude. Any place with one radio station has just the right level of humanity to keep stars most of us have never seen in the night sky.
Cape Cod on a frosty winter night and the night sky in my hometown 20 years ago are also amazing views. The latter is now gone forever, but there was a time within my lifetime when you could go to the beach at night and look up at the sky and feel a million miles away from civilization. Investment properties and strip malls have wiped that away. My fear is that those days will one day be gone from the handful of places I’ve traveled where you can still see the unobstructed night’s sky. Is that worth losing for a Starbucks?
I remember getting a small telescope fro Christmas when I was in grade school. I went out in the frosty winter’s night to look for Halley’s Comet.
I became frustrated trying to set up and balance the thing just to get a glimpse of the comet. Yet that night, I sat outside looking at the night’s sky in search of a comet that wouldn’t be around for another 76 years next to a dog who wouldn’t live to see another 10. Sometimes you have to look up to keep things in perspective.
Well I’m off for a few days starting this evening. It is a much needed break form the monotony of everyday existence. The mission, should we choose to accept it, is a camping trip down to the Keys. What a beautiful place. Of course there is no way I could possibly afford to live there full time, but it is nice to visit (see also Taos and Snoqualmie Mountain).
Aside from needing the break, camping is always a little challenging to our comfort level. Personally, I’m already a little squeamish about being in the “wild.” In this case, it is a K.O.A., but I digress. Compared to my high speed internet enriched, DVR enhanced world were every episode of “Family Guy” is readily at hand, the thought of community showers, no AC and a complete absence of the two boxes I spend most of the day staring at, it will be a huge change of pace. Hopefully it will also be a good one.
Last time I was in the Keys, I saw some of the most beautiful stars. Even with a few K-Marts and some major tourist traffic, there isn’t enough light bouncing off the little islands to block the stars. I’ve seen some amazing night sky’s in my time. In the high desserts of New Mexico, not only are you at a different elevation, but a different longitude and latitude. Any place with one radio station has just the right level of humanity to keep stars most of us have never seen in the night sky.
Cape Cod on a frosty winter night and the night sky in my hometown 20 years ago are also amazing views. The latter is now gone forever, but there was a time within my lifetime when you could go to the beach at night and look up at the sky and feel a million miles away from civilization. Investment properties and strip malls have wiped that away. My fear is that those days will one day be gone from the handful of places I’ve traveled where you can still see the unobstructed night’s sky. Is that worth losing for a Starbucks?
I remember getting a small telescope fro Christmas when I was in grade school. I went out in the frosty winter’s night to look for Halley’s Comet.
I became frustrated trying to set up and balance the thing just to get a glimpse of the comet. Yet that night, I sat outside looking at the night’s sky in search of a comet that wouldn’t be around for another 76 years next to a dog who wouldn’t live to see another 10. Sometimes you have to look up to keep things in perspective.
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