in college, i signed up for a freshman seminar class called:
"night watch,"
which, as i recall, was described in a very beautiful manner which may or may
not have included a rather enticing emerson quote, and which i may or
may not have read fully to the end...
when it came time to actually take the class, i quickly realized that:
a) it was a three hour night class ( duh, it was called night watch!)
b) it cut right into prime dawson's creek-watching time.
c) it required me to use a scientific part of my brain i hadn't exercised before.
and while i must admit that i didn't exactly succeed at mastering
the universe during that class- i can tell you with complete honesty
that i once knew the story behind each constellation.
i could look into a telescope and find saturn.
i could sort of grasp the idea of longitude and latitude.
i could tell you why the sky is blue and what meteor showers were.
and now all i can tell you is that i forgot it, but at one time, i loved it.
and this
diy constellation kit from
miniature rhino
reminds me of a time, not too long ago
when i looked at the stars
and i knew their names.