Dear Friend,
Tonight my kids and I took in quite a light show.
You see, we were sitting on a grassy bank overlooking Lake Winnipeg, in Manitoba, Canada. It was about 11 p.m., a bit late for them to be up, but the only time to experience what we saw.
Lake Winnipeg is no ordinary lake. From where we were we could not see the opposite shore, creating the impression that we were on some inland sea.
The moon rose slowly, directly off the beach to the east, while a storm of falling stars raged overhead, and a brewing thunderstorm put on a lightning show to the south. All the while, the sky around us was crystal clear, and we could see, in the dark night, what seemed like all of the stars of the Milky Way.
A cool breeze picked up off the lake, and we just lay there, staring up at the sky. Nearby, a group of teens had a roaring campfire and were laughing and singing, but not too loudly. They didn’t spoil the scene. Instead they seemed to fit naturally into it.
My youngest son had never seen shooting stars before tonight. And I held him in my arms as he saw his first. We talked about the science. And the beauty. And the peace that was the moment.
That moment will never die, because it will always be with me. I hope that it is always with them as well.
All the best,
Hugh
