On Sunday at around 11pm I walked up an ancient hill near my house with a couple of towels to lie on. There was no-one else around. There were no lights. I did not use a torch. I found a place away from trees and the ruined fort and lay down on my back, looking up at the sky.
I had heard there was to be a Meteor Shower and wanted to see this phenomenon, feel the magic in the air, touch the past and the future simultaneously. I suppose I wanted to experience something out of this world.
Above me, the sky was a field of diamonds. The longer I looked (I had no binoculars or telescope), the more my eyes adjusted to the night.
Overhead, there were stars attached to black ‘cobwebs’, which hung lower than others. Some shone bright, others less so. The Plough (‘Big Dipper’ if you’re American or Canadian) was huge and very low. It sparkled separately in its own pasture, some distance from the fairylight cobwebs.
I bent my knees so that my feet were flat on the ground and started to wonder if the wild rabbits might come close if I stayed still enough. Suddenly a giant star-spray rocketed through the sky like a silent firework. Then another. One had a red glowing streak behind it, others were in shades of silver and bronze. Every minute or two another would whizz past. Just as I thought the ‘aerodynamic display’ was over, another shower would flare from behind the distant tree or to the far reaches of my field of vision. It was amazing, extraordinary, awesome.
After a couple hours – which passed in the wink of an eye – I decided I should head home; partly because I had not planned to be out for more than a few minutes and was bare legged wearing only a short cotton shirt and t-shirt; damp had started to seep into my bones.. And partly I thought perhaps it was time to leave when a group of youngsters walked past (with head torches) and stared at me lying on the grass. – They didn’t say anything to me, nor I to them. I didn’t know anyone else was around.. nor did they.
On my way back down the hill, I guessed why they were there as I walked past a car playing loud music at the secluded parking space just outside the hill park and was asked by 3 young guys standing next to the vehicle if I ‘needed anything’ (sold in small wraps). I declined politely and continued walking home.
My experience of the stars was brilliant and mind-altering enough.