Because the wind is moving softly through the trees and stars...
It's been a while since I could sit out on the back deck at night, thanks to the giant pterodactyl skeeters we've been having lately. No, seriously, those suckers hurt when they bite (no pun intended), and since I've been having allergic reactions to mosquito repellant lately, it was easier to just stay inside.
But tonight, there was a lovely breeze, and it was just cool enough to be pleasantly warm, instead of overbearingly hot, and there was no moon, so the sky was bright with stars. I went out barefoot and sat in one of the chairs, pushing another chair around so I could rest my feet on the seat cushion, and tilted my head back to look up at the sky.
When we first moved out to Central Texas, we lived way out in the middle of nowhere on a two lane highway between San Marcos and Bastrop. There were hardly any houses out there, just lots of cattle, coyotes, and Nubian sheep. And at night?
I had never seen the Milky Way, except when I was in a drum and bugle corps and we were stalled at night out in the middle of nowhere and I just happened to look up. But when we went outside the first night after moving to the 21 house, I remember frowning at the big giant smear splitting the sky in two and asking my husband, "What the heck is that? Incandescent smoke??"
The Husbandly One laughed at me and said, "That's the Milky Way."
I was floored. And I was hooked. I spent a lot of time outside at night after that!
It's one of the few things I regret about moving into town, though by the time we left the 21 house, the population in that area had grown to the point where it was getting hard to see the Milky Way at night. Still, when I sit on the back deck and look up at the night sky, though it's more full of stars than the sky I grew up with in Houston, still... something is missing.
There was this lovely breeze, though, and it was enough to lift my hair from my sweaty neck, and I listened to the night chirps of insects and frogs, the soft twitter of birds, and the occasional owl. There was distant laughter from a house down the block, the smell of hay from a far off field, and somewhere nearby, night-blooming flowers were opening just enough to lightly perfume the air. It was so calm and peaceful, and it made me remember why we bought this house.
The Husbandly One coiled solar LED fairy lights around the porch columns with the help of some friends earlier this summer, and they gave just enough light to see by without overwhelming the night sky. He came out to see what I was up to and sat down to chat, and I looked up just in time to see a meteor streak across the sky overhead.
Yeah, a lovely night to sit, listen, and just be...
But tonight, there was a lovely breeze, and it was just cool enough to be pleasantly warm, instead of overbearingly hot, and there was no moon, so the sky was bright with stars. I went out barefoot and sat in one of the chairs, pushing another chair around so I could rest my feet on the seat cushion, and tilted my head back to look up at the sky.
When we first moved out to Central Texas, we lived way out in the middle of nowhere on a two lane highway between San Marcos and Bastrop. There were hardly any houses out there, just lots of cattle, coyotes, and Nubian sheep. And at night?
I had never seen the Milky Way, except when I was in a drum and bugle corps and we were stalled at night out in the middle of nowhere and I just happened to look up. But when we went outside the first night after moving to the 21 house, I remember frowning at the big giant smear splitting the sky in two and asking my husband, "What the heck is that? Incandescent smoke??"
The Husbandly One laughed at me and said, "That's the Milky Way."
I was floored. And I was hooked. I spent a lot of time outside at night after that!
It's one of the few things I regret about moving into town, though by the time we left the 21 house, the population in that area had grown to the point where it was getting hard to see the Milky Way at night. Still, when I sit on the back deck and look up at the night sky, though it's more full of stars than the sky I grew up with in Houston, still... something is missing.
There was this lovely breeze, though, and it was enough to lift my hair from my sweaty neck, and I listened to the night chirps of insects and frogs, the soft twitter of birds, and the occasional owl. There was distant laughter from a house down the block, the smell of hay from a far off field, and somewhere nearby, night-blooming flowers were opening just enough to lightly perfume the air. It was so calm and peaceful, and it made me remember why we bought this house.
The Husbandly One coiled solar LED fairy lights around the porch columns with the help of some friends earlier this summer, and they gave just enough light to see by without overwhelming the night sky. He came out to see what I was up to and sat down to chat, and I looked up just in time to see a meteor streak across the sky overhead.
Yeah, a lovely night to sit, listen, and just be...