Star stuff

After weeks of almost constant cloud cover and seemingly incessant rain we finally got a week of sunshine. We have not had such weather since the start of June. It is amazing how different everywhere looks in the sunshine. The autumn colours are here now. The summer blanket of green is replaced by the patchwork quilt of browns, reds, yellows and oranges. Clear days also mean clear nights. At last I can see Cassiopeia, Ursa Major (and Minor), Cygnus and even Orion. The Milky Way spreads itself like a celestial belt across the night sky. I have always found something deeply relaxing about the night sky. Everything appears ordered and pristine. It is aloof from the petty bickering on this tiny ball of rock. Humanity exists because of the stars. The elements of our bodies, the building blocks that make us what we are, are formed by the nuclear reactions within stars. We are the self conscious eyes of the universe. Perhaps the only ones or, more likely, just one of many species that look up at the night sky and wonder.