Nature's Fireworks in December

Streaks of light fill the sky in Pittsylvania County on 12-13-14.  

Bundled up and waiting anxiously for the universe's show tonight,  the trek to the bottom of the yard was like a safari.  Anticipating the bright light show was half the fun.  Hot chocolate to warm us,  blankets to wall out the chill air, we made our way to the new red  chairs at the garden, now still from the frost.  

Excitement is not far away.  Barely in our seats and the show begins.  Right  over our dear departed neighbor's house, the burning meteor flew to the  earth.  Shouts of "ooh, there's one, at 3 o'clock!" and, "did you see that one over the cedar tree?" echo into the yard. Wondering if the neighbors could hear us, our voices dropped to whispers, like the silence of the falling stars we watched.

Barely visible, nearly imagined beams of long forgotten matter fall to earth whether we saw it or not.  Straining our aging eyes to find the joy we found watching this same shower of space debris while awaiting the birth of  our first child; we reminisce. Doughnuts and coffee were the fair of that night.   We have no doughnuts tonight, nor pregnant belly, only continuity of years together, just as the stars.

The universe expands before us as we contemplate the ancients who sat just  like us staring into the dark abyss of the sky. Wonder comes in many ways and stays for many days. Hold onto wonder. Hold onto cold, clear nights with stars so bright.  

Hold onto the joy of life that exists in your backyard in Pittyslvania County, Virginia, or, where ever you may be on this plant we call Earth.