How I Got My Own Stars

I got the idea I'd watch the stars, so I went out into the backyard clutching a small book to see them.

I couldn't see much, only the Big Dipper, there were too many lights.

I got a tiny spyglass so I could see more stars.  It didnt work, it was too shaky and I couldnt see anything

So I saved and saved and got a larger department store telescope.  Now I could see some nebulae and a bright galaxy or two, but the city lights were too bright.  It was cold in the winter.  It was hot in the summer. I couldnt stay up late.

I still couldnt watch the stars very well.  I remembered once on vacation way out in the country I had really seen the stars, but I couldnt bring them home with me. 

Then one day I got an idea.  I took a cakebox from the bakery, punched holes in it with a safety pin, and put a small light under it in my darkened room   I saw stars!

I made a small dome in my closet with poster board.  I punched more stars.  I saw the Big Dipper again, only now I could see it whenever I wanted.  No late nights.  No city lights.  No cold winters or hot summers. 

Then came life ..   high school, college, marriage, a house, jobs, a son ..  and my star dream slept until I moved to this small farm.  Then I remembered my star dream.

I got a bigger telescope and went out, but the same problems were still there. 

City lights.  Early jobs.  Cold winters.  Hot summers.   And then I remembered that cakebox in the closet. 

And I remembered saying in my own dark .. I see stars!

And so I built and drilled and learned and experimented and tested and developed until one day I went into my own little building out in my backyard..

And in my own dark I flipped a switch.

And I almost shouted with joy.

NOW.  After all these years ..   I had my own . 

I had my own stars.   Do you want to see them?