Satellites and Stars and Bonfires

You know those moments you wish you could just capture and sear in your mind and heart forever? After many years of marriage and motherhood, I’ve discovered that I have to watch for those bits of heaven and make a concerted effort to trap them in my mind, detail by detail. One of the most vivid memories like this was our first big autumn bonfire that we had after moving to the farm.

Having moved from the city, the lessons of the night way out in the Appalachians amazed us. From the wild and wonderful orchestra of hooting owls to the discovery of the broad sweep of the Milky Way overhead on clear nights, we were hooked. Other people buy or build picnic tables for use as tables; we bought some to use as night observatories. With sleeping bags, binoculars, and a telescope, we learned so much.

That first bonfire event taught us even more. As the fire slowly died down, we were all sky watching, when suddenly we saw a bright object tumble across the night sky. It was not a jet or anything else that we could identify, and it seemed to go in and out of light. My brother was visiting that weekend, and he explained that we were watching a satellite cross the sky and tumble in and out of the light of the sun as it orbited the earth.

 

As much as our kids had learned about space when we lived near Cape Canaveral, it had never really occurred to them that many of the satellites that we watched launch through the atmosphere were still up there, circling the earth, and that we could actually see them! That whole discussion and the “wow” on their faces are memories that I captured and hold in my heart. We still have weekend bonfires when they are home on cold nights and still try to be the first to see a satellite tumbling overhead. And the lessons just keep coming. ☺

Blessings,

Amanda B.

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