2:15 AM my alarm went off and for a split moment I dared consider the alternative to getting up, but then decided against it. I'd never seen a meteor shower before and this was my opportunity to see it. Never would this meteor shower come at this particular moment in time ever again. Each "shooting star" is unique. I bundled up into what seemed like 10 layers and rolled out the door a little after 2:30AM to my driveway to see the view. I tried standing first with my neck craned every which way. I pondered where exactly I was to be looking, but remembered that the website had not given specifics so I resolutely laid flat out on my back on the driveway for five minutes. Nothing. Nada. Zilch! I had not given up hope yet, but I the conductive heat transfer from my body to the pavement was taking a toll so I headed back in to grab my blankets; one to lay on and one to cover me and a pillow for my head. I also brewed up a pot of absolutely smooth, hot and delicious Gevalia decaf coffee. Renewed in my sentiments to catch a glimpse of the meteor shower phenomenon I trundled out the door with my warm blankets and hot coffee around 2:45.
I lay out underneath the stars beneath my soft fleece blanket and gazed and gazed and gazed. It struck me how huge and how marvelous our universe really is and how truly incredible its Maker and Creator really is. I was reminded of a passage in Psalm 8:3-5,9
"When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels and You have crowned him with glory and honor...O LORD, our Lord, How excelllent is Your name in all the earth!"
All of it, God created and said it was good. I can only stand in awe of his creation. Beauty and magnificence are the only words that I can relegate to such phenomena that imperfectly describes the very thing.
Anyway, I was laying out for a few minutes absorbing in the scene and the sheer silence of the night and took a sip of my hot coffee from my Starbucks tumbler every few moments when I saw it. My first meteor. It was so awesome. My chest swelled and my heart leaped. Words cannot ascertain the event, only dimly recollect my vague remembrance. The actual live "shooting star"...wow, now that was something! I quickly texted a few friends to share my excitement and was staring back at the vast night sky (or I suppose early morning sky!) when there it was! Another meteor quickly passed across the sky, even larger than the first! I lay out there for another 5 minutes or so and then decided to call it quits..It had already reached past the time when NASA had predicted the peak time to view the shower.
I am so glad that I woke up and bundled up to glimpse a small piece of God's glory in the nighttime sky!
peace
