Scintillated

Last night, I was awakened by a wet nose, nudging me out of bed. It would seem that I fell asleep without putting the dog out. Apparently, that is one of those skills that only I possess such as refilling the milk jug and taking out overflowing garbage bags. Important things indeed ,but not enough to put on my resume.
 So off we go into the cold night, braving the icy driveway. Meanwhile, I look up into the sky and I am momentarily paralyzed. There were so many stars...so many. The more I looked, the more they seemed to appear. No photo could ever describe what I saw. I stared and stared all the while the dog is waiting. I looked into the night until my neck started to hurt, thanks to the car accident and the reason I could not kiss the Blarney Stone despite my climb up those bloody steep, slippery steps...

For that brief moment, I had no worries, no cares, no concerns. What an awesome feeling! Is it that easy? To just be distracted in order to forget the harsh reality of my everyday existence? One thought that did keep me thinking is that I am only a small part of this universe and yet, as small as my part may be, I matter.

Now, the realist in me buggers it all up. That wonderful view of stars twinkling , well a lot of them are probably dead as it takes many lifetimes for their light to reach our planet... Sadly, they are almost like ghosts. This is the kind of ghost you don't mind having around. However, it's this kind of thinking that gets me into trouble. Yet at that time of night, I don't think the dog cared too much about the stars, my thoughts, my questioning of the universe and my role in it.