A rare bird

Occasionally in life we get to experience something we previously only dreamed about. In the past few years providence has smiled on me in this regard. The latest event was last night at 23:30.
At 23:00 the space shuttle Endeavour took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA. A few minutes later it jettisoned the two solid rocket boosters which landed by parachute in the Atlantic to be picked up by the US navy. About 20 minutes later it dropped off the huge external fuel tank. At this stage it was in orbit and the fuel tank burned up in the atmosphere. I went outside around 23:15. I was not expecting to see anything as the weather is very bad with lots of clouds. However, as if by magic or some other power, the skies cleared just enough to see some of the brighter stars. I waited. Then like a bright diamond in the sky, it appeared. The shuttle was like a very bright star as it reflected the rays of the sun on the dark Earth below. It is a sight I have seen before a number of times. What I saw next though was truly fantastic. The external tank now separated from the shuttle was moving just behind it in the sky. The tank had a rusty brown hue. Not as bright as its companion but still very visible. It was as if the shuttle had a lantern hanging from it as it made its celestial voyage. It is a sight I thought I would never see but, thanks to the many postponements of the launch due to weather issues, now I have realised a dream. At a time when I don’t feel so great , it was like a light shining in my darkness