we're ready to go! We are off to New Zealand tonight. I'm not taking a computer or a cell phone - but we have iPods full of music and audio books and podcast videos - so there has been some concession to the tech obsession. I am expecting to see some very beautiful scenary and make new friends. Because we are hoping to sleep a lot on the plane, it's okay that I woke up at 5am today. Perhaps it will help me fall asleep, or add to my crazed lack-of-sleep anxiety at some future point. Let's hope for the former.

Last night our next door neighbor knocked on the door and asked if we'd like to see the rings of Saturn. We bundled up and went over to his yard, where he had set up his newest telescope - a huge tube about two feet wide and six feet tall. The rings of Saturn were just as bright as the planet itself, which surprised me, as most photos show them as somewhat translucent. We also saw an astonishing nebula in Orion, and Betelgeuse, as well as an open cluster of stars and the North Star with its tiny twin twinkling over its shoulder. All this with street lights glaring right in front of us, and the sky appearing more blotted out than usual with our town's ambient light. The miracles of the universe, right there all the time for us to see, if we open our eyes wide enough.

I hope to keep my eyes and heart open during our trip, so that I can see it all.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at 6:13 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.