WQ - Starry Nights

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I'm participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. In order to simplify her blogging schedule, Marsha has decided to choose themes for her posts as she goes, and has invited those of us who participate to simply include a quote in our post and choose our own themes as well. I still have the original list of prompts that I'll probably use from time to time, or I may combine my WQ posts with something else. Simplifying sounds like a good option for me as well! 

It's been a few weeks since I did a WQ post, for various reasons, but I enjoyed the process of compiling quotes and images and writing it. So this week it was time to get back to it. The original list of prompts had Nature, and more specifically Stars and Meteors as the theme for this week. The Arietids meteor showers begin at the end of May, so that makes sense.

Or does it? I hadn't realized it, but the Arietids are a daytime meteor shower, making them a little trickier to observe! Well, now that I know what to look for, and when, I'll make an effort to view these ones. My kids studied classical astronomy for our science course a number of years ago, and we lived out in the country, so we often stood outside in the yard stargazing, trying to identify constellations, and watching meteor showers. And trying to come up with new meteor shower puns, most of which I can't remember now. 

If people looked at the stars each night, they'd live a lot differently. When you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day. ~Bill Watterson

My boys were much happier to stay up late at night to look at stars than to get up early to observe the sunrise, oddly enough. I guess I'm kind of the same. I remember so many times when I'd pull into the driveway after dark and then stand beside the car and just marvel at the stars for awhile before going into the house. The night sky inspires awe and wonder, and should inspire worship of its Creator too.

Oh Lord, my God

When I, in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

~Carl Boberg

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

~Psalm 19:1-2~

I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars. ~Og Mandino

This was the only photo I took when my husband and I visited Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania a couple years ago. It's dark sky park and a wonderful place to see the stars and night sky without the light pollution of cities and all of that.  Obviously I'm not equipped with the kind of photography equipment that enables me to get decent photos of stars. The occasional good photo of the moon is usually the best I can manage.

The sky is the ultimate art gallery just above us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. ~Vincent Van Gogh

pastel study of Starry Night by KAT, 2017

Gaze up at the stars knowing that I see the same sky and wish the same sweet dreams. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights―the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

~Genesis 1:14-18~

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.

Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

his understanding has no limit.

~Psalm 147:4-5~

Resources:  If you're interested in finding out more about when and where to see the meteor showers, or about how to identify planets or constellations, and so much more, the website EarthSky has a lot of information! Another favorite resource we've used for years is Stellarium. It's an open source 'planetarium' for your computer or phone that makes it very easy to figure out what constellations and stars you are looking at in your night sky. The homeschool curriculum my kids and I used was called Signs and Seasons: Understanding the Elements of Classical Astonomy. The author, Jay Ryan, maintained a Classical Astronomy website that I enjoyed as well. It's not updated with current viewing dates, but there's a lot of great information still available there.

Wednesday Quotes 2024 is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. See what we're inspired by this week: WQ#168: Young Plants Inspire Us in Early Summer

This post will also be linked at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Grace-Filled Moments

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