I’ve gotten into the habit of stepping out to look at the stars whenever I wake up at night. To really get away from the lights though, requires a short walk to the ocean bluffs where the night sky opens up over the Pacific and distant boat lights blend into the blackness with all those millions of stars. Sometimes, it’s a great opportunity to have some quiet time alone with the Creator of it all but lately I’ve been bringing along one of the boys. This morning was an exception. They’d all been arguing the night before over whose turn it was to go stargazing with Mom, so when one of them wandered into our room at 4:00 this morning I thought it only fair to see if any of the others wanted to join us outside. So, there I was at 4:15 with 3 little guys instead of 1, heading out to look at the stars. We were able to knock a couple more constellations off our list and we saw 4 shooting stars from the Orionids meteor shower which will be peaking Monday, October 22. Here is a great website that lists the various showers and the best times to watch: meteor-activity-outlook-for-october-13-19-2012
We’ve also been participating this week in the Great World Wide Star Count which ends October 19. This means if you have a clear night tonight or tomorrow, you can get in on the count, too! Here is a link to that site as well:starcount
Yes, there’s tons of neat stuff out there to be learned in the dark hours of the night. And it makes for some precious time shared with the little people in your life. But be warned, late-night star-gazing can make for a VERY WHINY WEDNESDAY when nobody has had enough sleep! So is it worth it? Better ask me after naptime.