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“I don’t know....”

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Tonight was the first time I’ve ever looked at the night sky through a telescope. I’m 34 years old.

I was outside to put away the roto-tiller, when I looked up at the slowly darkening evening and saw a white half moon.

I immediately remembered the telescope we had found in the out building the last time that landlord had visited. I dug it out, not sure what to expect, and began to scan the sky.

When the moon came into focus—so sharp, and so clear, and so...real—the hairs on my arms stood on end.

Isaiah! Mi-chan! Come outside! Come outside!

I had rushed to the back door to call my wife and son outside. I felt like I had just discovered...the moon.

My son and I took a walk, holding hands, to see if we could find some stars that were different colors. We had the handheld field scope. He likes to tell me what the different colors mean. If a planet or star is red, it’s a fire planet. If it’s purple, it’s poison. If it’s pink, then it’s Candy Land.

After we returned, and he went inside, I was left in the now enveloping darkness of the driveway, sitting on the pavement, again looking up.

There are so many stars up there. So many not visible to the non-telescopic eye. This weird feeling of wonder and amazement—an almost horrifying, stunned bewilderment—gripped me.

“I don’t know,” were the words I heard coming softly from my own mouth.

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~*~

(All photos in this post are original work.)

~KafkA

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DLive and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)