I love a good meteor shower. I love any meteor shower. Last night, I decided to shake it up a little. I stayed up late to get my best shot of seeing the Lyrid meteor shower, which was supposed to be best between the hours of 2 AM and 5 AM. I just knew I would never get up early to see it, so it was much better for this ol’ night owl to see it LATE at night instead.
I went outside through my front door with my cozy little pink fleece blanket, as I knew I would have the best shot to see the Lyrid Meteor Showers facing the East or Northeast direction of the sky looking straight up. I knew everyone else was asleep in the neighborhood, so I put my blanket down on the grass and lay across it so I could look directly up into the sky. It had been a year or so since I’ve been supine across a blanket looking up into the night sky for the meteor shower. Normally I just “catch a glimpse” of it, but this year I wanted to see it in all its glory. Let me tell you, there are LOTS of sounds in the night at 2:00 AM in suburban America. I heard the wind swaying the Palmetto fronds with a slow and methodical swish swish sound. I heard animals in the distance and realized I wasn’t quite sure if snakes sleep at night or are most active. I couldn’t help but think that my warm body was a perfect place for a slithering reptile to crawl up against, thinking I was some type of heat rock. I tried not to let that dim my excitement, but I decided after a while it probably wasn’t the best idea being in the middle of my front yard, all alone, at 2 AM. I convinced myself to stay for fifteen minutes, and then I would go back inside where I, and any other sane person, belonged. T minus fourteen….T minus thirteen…..T minus twelve……holding my breath, waiting in anticipation, waiting for a little magic in the night sky to take my breath away. T minus eleven…..T minus ten….now WHAT was I thinking…..T minus nine…..T minus eight…….WAIT……THERE IT IS! Right before my eyes, I saw a dart of bright light race across the sky, my sky, in the blink of an eye. It was bright, bold, and beautiful. If I had been looking in another direction, I surely would have missed it. Isn’t that like everything in life, I thought to myself. One has to be ready, willing, and able, to use a colloquial expression, to see the magic, to see the beauty, to see the opportunities spread out before oneself. I decided seeing one big beautiful streak of light was well worth the wait and ventured back inside my house, back into my comfort zone.
About ten minutes later, I decided I would step out of my comfort zone once again, even for fifteen minutes, to see more of the night sky in all its splendor. I went back outside but this time leaned against the porch in case any slithering reptiles decided to inch their way towards me. Again, when I stepped out of my comfort zone, I was rewarded with seeing two more trails of light before my eyes. This time, they were not as bold and bright but beautiful nonetheless. I tried not to compare them to the showing I had just a little while earlier in the same sky and to accept them for what they were: a little slice of magic in the night sky, revealed to me after I stepped out of my comfort zone.
When I was thinking about my expectations for that second jaunt outside to see the meteor shower again, I immediately thought of the lyrics to one of Bruce Springsteen’s songs…..
“Show a little faith; there’s magic in the night,
You ain’t a beauty, but hey you’re alright,
Oh and that’s alright with me….”
-“Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen
The lighter set of streaks in the sky, I knew right away, were “alright with me” because there WAS “magic” in the night last night to be sure. I can’t wait to see the Perseid Meteor Showers again in August. I’ll even mark it on my calendar this year.
Life is good. Step out of your comfort zone whenever you can to discover or experience something new, or to discover something all over again. Life is good; life is a gift.
Carpe diem, friends……………………..
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Carpe Diem with Caye 