Saturday, April 18, 2009

In the still of the night

My husband is out of town for the weekend. He drove 3 hrs east to meet up with a couple of friends to go fly fishing. Which means I am home for the weekend with two kids, two dogs and a cat. And like I always say--the cat is no trouble!

Anyway, I usually get to sleep in on Saturday mornings while he takes care of the kids and deals with the dogs. I never take care of the dogs if he is around. After all, they are not my dogs! But, at 3:30 am last night, I heard the whimpering and whining from one 10 month old German short haired pointer. Ugh. I just wanted to ignore her and go back to sleep but the whining was relentless. I shuffled out of bed and down stairs to let Lilly outside. She mauled my hand and danced over to the sliding glass door. While she was in the yard, I gazed up to the sky. It was pitch black. All I could see were millions of stars sparkling against a black velvet sky framed by the tall oak trees that surround our house. A beautiful sight to behold in the still of the night. If my eyelids hadn't been so heavy, I think I could have stood there the rest of the night.

There is something calming and comforting that star gazing brings to me. It reminds me of being a kid driving back from South Arkansas after a visit with the grandparents. We always drove back late so the stars would be out. I remember gazing up through the car's back glass at the beautiful stars while wondering what is really out there. I am one of those people that would jump at the chance to go to space. I've always been filled with wanderlust.

I also remember lying outside in the summer night with my dad and sister looking up at the stars and watching for shooting stars. We had a storm cellar that was perfect to lie on. It seemed like we were out there really late but to a 5 year old it probably didn't have to be late to feel that way. I would try to peer through my dad's binoculars not knowing how to use them properly.

Well, my eye lids won out and I called Lilly back in. I shuffled back upstairs and crawled into bed. I wasn't upset from the interruption of sleep, but rather felt like I had witnessed a magical dream.

3 comments:

Living Dees Life said...

i miss being able to gaze up at the stars at night and seeing them!! living in chicagoland is just horrible for that!

i did get in some pretty night time stars while we were in south florida. it was pretty :)

but there is nothing like the midnight sky of arkansas!

Auburn Kat said...

I love looking up at the stars!!! Whenever I'm home and it's a clear night I walk in to the backyard and just stare up at the stars....you definitely can't seem them in the city like you can in the country!

Cheryl Wray said...

This was a beautiful post!!! I love looking at the stars too, but don't do it nearly often enough.