Dark skies

Teasdale is very dark at night. When there is no moon, the Milky Way looks just so: a broad, vast belt of light points that spreads across the ecliptic. The planets are brilliant, too, and when they are close, it is easy to imagine the early civilizations in awe as they invented their own versions of creation. Last night, Jupiter was so close that in my binoculars it was a round orb with a string of little moons dripping off of it. I could clearly see all four of the big moons, three to one side and one on the other. I could easily pick out Andromeda, the closest galaxy to us. We are in a Dark Sky area; there are very few accessible spots left on earth that we can view the stars without the light pollution given off by nearby cities. It is also very quiet here, so silent that it can be eerie to some, but I find it comforting. I worry that we are raising a whole generation of children who will never see or hear this, that the artificial is becoming the real to them. That can't be good for the survival of our species, or for the survival of our planet.