1865 Dark

[jonathan]

While I realize that the world is a lot more "lit up" now than ever, there are still a lot of places that it's still very dark at night. My parents live in the country where there are a few houses near them and it gets very dark there. But at the same time, we sometimes can forget how much light the moon can provide. There are no big trees in my parents front yard, and if you turn the house lights off, walk out into the yard, it's amazing how easy it is to see if there's a big moon out. And of course any time it's clear you can see a million stars shining. When I'm at home in Raleigh, it is very, very different. I remember once years ago, there was a comet passing close to earth. I think it was the comet Hyakutake. I happened to be at my parents house and happened to wake up in the middle of the night. I knew this comet was supposed to be out so I decided to go outside and see if I could see it. When I got outside I looked up and my jaw nearly hit the ground. There were stars everywhere, and there was this huge streak that just dominated the night sky. Not at all like the couple of other comets I've looked at, that look kind of like a smudged star. This thing was incredible. It was easily one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. If I had been around a bunch of city lights, I don't know if I would have been able to see it at all. Even if I could, it would not have been nearly the same. I love city living and city lights, but I don't mind a little bit of country dark either.