I've always loved looking at the night sky, but I was an adult before I learned my way around the sky. It seemed to me that there were so many stars twinkling in the night that it would be impossible to find one particular star or constellation. I couldn't even find the Big Dipper.
That all changed shortly after I decided to sit outside during the night for some quiet time. I sat in the same spot at the same time each night and just stared at the sky. It was very relaxing. Then one night, I realized that I was looking at a pattern. It was the Big Dipper! My grand adventure in stargazing was born.
Eventually, I found all the constellations visible in my sky as well as many other celestial delights. After a few years of naked-eye observing and binocular-observing, I got a telescope. I will never forget the first time I saw Saturn. There I was, just me and my trusty telescope, alone in the front yard, when I trained my scope on Saturn. Its beauty is beyond words. Well, almost beyond words. I soon realized I was talking aloud to myself exclaiming "beautiful" and "incredible" and "awesome." Saturn looks like an exquisite jewel on a black velvet pillow.
Stargazing isn't always a solitary hobby. Soon after I got my telescope, my children and grandchildren joined me for a night of stargazing. At the time, Mars was the closest to Earth it had been in 60,000 years. Everyone wanted to see it. The polar cap and ruddy color were easy to see. My grandchildren, however, wanted to see the moon up close. When looking at the moon through a telescope, you need a colored lens to mute the brightness. It's like putting sunglasses (moonglasses) on the telescope. I decided to pull a prank on my grandchildren. As I slipped a green lens on the eyepiece, I told them that I could show them that the moon is made of green cheese. They were amazed at the sight of the green moon - for about two seconds. My grandson realized what I had done. I had a feeling they wouldn't fall for it, but it was fun. We had a wonderful evening under the stars.
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