streaks in the sky

Falling Stars by Rainer Maria Rilke

Do you remember still the falling stars
that like swift horses through the heavens raced
and suddenly leaped across the hurdles
of our wishes--do you recall? And we
did make so many! For there were countless numbers
of stars: each time we looked above we were
astounded by the swiftness of their daring play,
while in our hearts we felt safe and secure
watching these brilliant bodies disintegrate,
knowing somehow we had survived their fall.

I woke up early this morning, because I had read that there was a meteor shower from 1 a.m. - 6 a.m. Eastern Time this morning. I already had to wake up early for work, so I set my alarm 15 minutes earlier than I had planned. At 5:45, I put on sweatpants, boots, my winter coat, and a hat to go stand in our backyard area, ready to be amazed.

There's a fire station across the path, which has its lights on all night, so I was extremely surprised when I looked up and saw Orion and his belt perfectly. The sky was still black, and the stars were bright as ever. Has anyone else ever worked with those boards from art class? Where there black, but then you use a small knife to scratch away the black, and behind it is either silver or gold? Well, I remember doing that when I was a senior in high school, and ever since then I have thought about stars that way. They look like someone came in and took their little knife and just scratched the black away...

Either way, I love the stars. I love looking up at the sky, sometimes trying to count them - figuring out which constellation is which...although I tend to only be able to recognize the popular ones. I'm always pleasantly surprised by myself when I can recognize Cassiopeia, which doesn't happen very often.


But this morning, only a few seconds after looking out into the sky - I saw one!!! The short streak of light shoot across the sky. It was enough to make my day, and even my week.