Stars

After the rains in the first half of December, we were treated to an unexpectedly cold and frosty second half. Christmas Eve was a wonderful day, with clear skies and a fantastic trick of light my father called 'double suns': three balls of radiant light side by side in the sky. I have missed the light so much that it's been like an early Spring to go for a walk in relatively bright sunlight - albeit the day lasts only for a few hours.

The other day I went for a night time stroll - it was maybe 10pm - to catch a glimpse of the New Year Eve's fireworks. I saw some of those, but what really took my breath away were the stars: the gloriously vast, delicate, and brilliant lacework of the high heavens... (I don't know anything about stars or constellations - the only one I recognise is the Great Bear that we call Otava - but they carry an intrinsic sense of mystery which never fails to fascinate me. I hope that some day I will have the chance to see the starlit sky spanning above the wide open spaces in the Great Plains - just like in films!)