31 Days: Sky

When I was little, I spent a lot of time looking up at the sky.  It wasn’t particularly easy to avoid it – I lived in the Big Sky State.  And the sky there was massive – so massive that you could see the curve of the Earth at the horizons, especially when out on one of the many lonely roads of Montana where there were just endless fields of tall grass blowing over small hills with nothing else to block the view.

Since moving to the east coast, I’ve missed that sky. The sky in New England is much smaller.  Due to the tall trees, it’s really only visible straight up a lot of the time.  Even in open spaces, such as the shoreline or a meadow, it’s not really the same.  Yes,there’s a larger view of the sky – but it’s not so high up there that you feel it is untouchable.  The East Coast sky is lower, a bit more claustrophobic, and never, ever as crystal clear, even on the sunniest day.

The other sky I miss most of all is the night sky – seeing the actual fuzzy collection of stars in a stripe that comprise the Milky Way from our back patio.  We had a hot tub just off the back sliding door, and I’d curl into the water in the dark and just look up at the infinite white dots above. I could identify all of the larger constellations on sight.

With the glow of civilization here in the East, the stars are much more dim.  I have trouble some nights even identifying the Big Dipper at times.  I know that changes the further north you go – I’ve heard inland Maine is spectacular for stargazing.

I do miss the sky – the wide open sky.  And I hope that my son will be able to discover the wonder of its expanse at some point, because it’s one of the things I know he’s really missing out on by growing up on the East Coast.

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This post is part of my annual participation in the Write 31 Days Challenge. This year I am joining a group of writers on a Five Minute Free Write journey throughout the month.