The Stars Seem To Splatter In The Sky

We live very near a park in the valley where there are no city lights. On a clear night, a short walk will give us the kind of sight one would get in a planetarium.

Stars fall down in buckets like rain till there ain't no standing room.

Since we are 41 degrees south latitude, all the constellations are strange and new. Our "Big Dipper" is the Southern Cross.

The moon illuminates us. It appears upside down from the one we grew up with in North America. After a while things we've never seen seem familiar.

Even sitting at night in our own yard affords us quite a stellar view.

A few nights ago, we had one of those phenomena in the sky called a Moon Ring, or Moon Dog. It looks like there is a big white cricle around the moon. Scientists will tell you it has to do with the shape of ice crystals and atmospheric temperature.

Who cares, it just looks cool.

This is the second one we have seen here in a year.

Legend says that if you count the stars inside the circle, the total will be the number of days before bad weather.

There were 2 stars in the circle and 2 days later, we started getting rain.

Go figure.

We have passed through the autumn equinox and the leaves are beginning to turn red and gold and the sun is lower on the horizon. Temperatures are cooling and darkness comes early.

Summer is over. Summer is over.

For the last 40 years, we have lived in eternal sunshine. The weather was always the same...bright and warm. Sky was always blue. Rain was rare.

Never owned a scarf or gloves.

Never turned on the heater.

Now we have seasons and they come right on schedule. The whole circle makes more sense to me now.

Everything is always changing.

It is clear that we are changing too.