Favorite Things: Starry Sky

Orion, as seen from my country sky

 

 

The Star Splitter by Robert Frost

`You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,
And rising on his hands, he looks in on me
Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something
I should have done by daylight, and indeed,
After the ground is frozen, I should have done
Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful
Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney
To make fun of my way of doing things,
Or else fun of Orion's having caught me.’

The constellation Orion is a huge, magnificent sight to see as it rises over the horizon. To watch it is as awesome these days as it was during ancient times, when people referred to it as “The Hunter”.

To read Robert Frost’s story of what a particular farmer, probably in the 1920’s, did in order to have better views of his country sky, and what the star splitter is , go here . I know that you’ll enjoy Frost's wordsmithing, and the next time we have a clear sky, I encourage you to go have a look at the Mighty Hunter. While you are there, look for his dog, too. Hint: It contains the brightest star in the sky.

We country folk are lucky to have stars; there are actually people who live in big cities, like Tokyo, who've never seen star because of light pollution. Isn't that sad?

Marcheta *starstruck



Big Tech, Little Tyke

Ava's been keeping me busy, that's for sure. Along with playing board games, attending a program at the library, and other usual five-years-old activities, we had an astronomy lesson. Last night she learned about Orion. We ended our observation session by singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in the cold, crisp January air.

This morning as breakfast was cooking (apple/cinnamon waffle sticks), she busied herself by taking pictures of birds. Her favorite bird is the Northern Cardinal, and our River Birch tree was loaded with them. Her device of choice was her iPhone, a gift from her uncle Dave because he updated. Besides taking pictures, she also reads books, listens to music (her favorite, Nora Jones), and plays games. Occasionally she makes a phone call or text. Not to worry, her parents set her up with some sort of app from Google that lets her call only them.

Gee, I have no idea of how to use an iPhone or any other smart phone. I am in the dark ages with my dumb phone. Lucky for me that I have Ava to show me how. And so this is how it is going down; we are teaching each other what we know. And that's how it should be :)

Marcheta * the student and the teacher