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Old 08-02-2022, 09:17 PM   #3
DutchmenSport
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Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Anderson
Posts: 2,544
M.O.C. #22835
After a busy day of walking, driving the Bobcat, meeting new folks, walking the campground, tending to the campsites, and studying out tomorrow's reservation list, I found myself exhausted, but at the same time thrilled and unable to go to bed and sleep. My wife hit the sheets and she was snoring within seconds. Me, not so fortunate. My brain will not shut off and is in over drive. So, I decided I would take the little girl doggie outside and stretch out on the umbrella folding love seat camping chair and enjoy the night sky.

And how magnificent it was too! First, the bugs or critters or whatever they are, chirping (these are not crickets), making a symphony of rhythmic melody. I laid back with little dogging on my chest, her nose under my chin against my neck, closed my eyes and just listened. It was awesome! The crickets, or cascades, or whatever they are sang in unison, rising to a crescendo and then down again, lulling my sense of sound, drifting my mind off into another world of existence, so beautiful, so peaceful (so loud).

The next thing i noticed was the little girl dog breathing under my chin, on my neck; in-out.... in-out ... I felt her warmth and sensed her loyalty as she seemed to melt into my chest. Her breathing was almost hypnotic what I really paid attention.

I finally opened my eyes which had now adjusted to the dark. I suppose I'd been outside for about 20 minutes when I finally looked up. The sky was dark, with a haze of light cast by the brilliant star light. No clouds anywhere, no moon that I could see, just the pure night sky through the tops of the trees. In the midst of the darkness, the stars twinkled. I staring at them. And the longer I stared, the brighter they became. No need for a telescope or binoculars. The human eye is much more sensitive to faint light than we we give it credit for. Soon, I realized I could see, what seemed like to be, a million stars! The more I studied, the more I could see. Amazing! Spectacular!

I gazed upward and then I saw it. I had not seen one for over 50 years ... a shooting star! It lasted for only a mere 2 seconds, but it was enough to fill the thoughts and imagination for a lifetime at the thought of how far that bit of rock burning in our atmosphere had to travel to give me,.... yes, just me .... a two second light show.

It was now I signed a breath of such relief. I muttered a little "Thank-you Lord for this marvelous blessing."

My eyes were now taking in the full night sky. The stars were all shining bright as diamonds in the sky. I could feel the night air beginning to cool on my face and hands. Petting that little girl doggie as she so wonderfully laid there on my chest with that nose still buried in my neck. Now I'm feeling her warm breath against the cooling night air. Another awesome experience!

I had forgotten how perfect an experience like this truly is! Not since my childhood, when I was, 11 years old, when us boys would all get together with our cots and blankets, gathered together at our favorite spot under a solitary tree at that rustic campground where our parents parked their travel trailers for the season. There was no running water, no bath houses, no electricity. Campfires created light for the night and that was the extent of it. We'd lay in our cots, look up at the night sky, count the stars, listen to the bull frogs croaking and the crickets chirping, and in the far distance, our parents laughing around their own campfire. We'd tell stories ourselves, laugh, joke, carry on, and eventually fall asleep only to wake up in the morning with the sun just cracking over the horizon and covered by a sheet of dew on the tops of our own blankets.

Not since my childhood have I experienced such a marvelous night as tonight. Sad, I must now go to bed. But, tomorrow is another day to be ever so thankful for this amazing opportunity I've been given to not only enjoy such a great camping experience, but to also give back to others to help them experience such a joy as this too!
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