To Gaze Up at the Stars

"Without a wish, without a will,

I stood upon that silent hill

And stared into the sky until

My eyes were blind with stars

and still I stared into the sky."

~Ralph Hodgson

This is my all-time favorite constellation. Always has been. Always will be. No.Matter.What.

When we used to be on the road, late at night, in Wyoming and Colorado (where, by the way, there was a lot of dark and vacant areas and lots of stars to be seen) I would watch for this constellation. I could always spot it. Always. It is another thing that anchors me. I could care less about the BIG Dipper or the little Dipper. They are great and all. But the one that I love, the one I look for is Orion. Who knows, maybe there is a subconscious draw towards the mighty hunter in the sky, always on the hunt or lookout for the next big thing...who knows.

But in analyzing this I decided to google "hunter" and lovely google decided to populate and give me "hunter personality types" as a search option. Who knew?! Not I, that is for darn sure. My psych degree and all. It is sort of interesting. Read about the Hunter Personality Type here! As I perused it I discovered that I possess some of these traits (not many though-and that is a stretch also), but even moreso, I am in awe of and respect people I know who do "fit" these traits more than I do. Maybe because I wish I could be more like that? Maybe?! Maybe it is just because I sometimes think these people are just a tad bit crazy? But then again, so am I. Who knows.

Who knows what draws my eyes up to the sky. I have always had a facination for the heavens. I love looking up to the sky no matter the time of day. Laying on the elementary school playground picking out items in the clouds, stargazing, watching for the summer thunderstorms brewing in the ominous looking sky and the lightning guaranteed to accompany the thunder. It all intrigues me. Hence, my reflecting on it tonight as I was walking out among the stars. I also recall some of my favorite star-gazing experiences. All time favorite: camping in Canada, during a burn ban season and seeing more stars than I could have ever imagined. Heaven-quite literally.

I decided for fun to include some of my favorite sky pictures. Ah, look up to the heavens the next chance you get! Really!

**originally written 8/16/10 and unposted until now :)