Stargazing

Jeanna GLeave a comment

It’s that amazing time of year when the Perseids make their luminous entrance into our atmosphere. Last night, my daughter and I lay side-by-side on a blanket in the grass, surrounded by friends, and stared at the sky, trying not to blink, willing stars to shoot, fall, and dazzle. We were in the same spot where she saw her first shooting star, figuring it must be good luck.

Her first was actually one of the Geminids. Earlier that summer, on a beach vacation in Ocean Isle, I had seen at least two shooting stars, and one glamorous falling star over the ocean. She missed them all. When the Geminids came around that December, we were determined to see her first fiery streak of space debris together. So we sat in our car, wrapped in blankets, staring off towards its namesake constellation. After an hour, we were about to give up, when a brilliant light streaked across the horizon. When we both inhaled sharply together, I knew she’d seen it. Magic.

My high school sweetheart and I used to stargaze all the time. We actually sought out fields and rock ledges and water edges on which to sit and marvel at the sky, and sometimes at the twinkling in each other’s eyes.

At summer camp when I was about 10 years old, closing ceremony took place in the evening. I’m not sure if the timing was planned because they knew there would be a meteor shower, or if the light show was a happy coincidence. Either way, the giant bonfire paled in comparison to the celestial fireworks I witnessed that night.

A couple of years earlier, I went on an elementary school field trip to the planetarium for a star show. Hearing the narrator tell short stories about the constellations while highlighting them across the giant domed ceiling whetted my appetite for making astronomy a hobby.

At an even younger age, I remember being in the old Suburban with my family, when my dad pulled the car over alongside a field and told us to get out. It was that night that I learned about the Big Dipper and the North Star. The sky was big that night, and all of the stars were awake. I fell in love with stars in that awe-inspiring moment. Perhaps by fate, my first constellation was also my high school mascot: The Bear, and our yearbook is titled, “Ursa.”

Last night, a few Perseids made an appearance at our Star Party. I love that my daughter and I will always have shared experiences like this to cherish. I hope that I am paying it forward by stirring up in her a curiosity about the stars. I hope that she also feels moved while being still, grounded while staring into the expanse of the heavens, and filled with faith that something amazing is about to happen.

Figment

Jeanna G2 Comments

While coaching volleyball one night this summer, we had only 6 girls show up to play. I said, “I guess I’ll just be over on the bench by myself this match!” One of the players replied, “Nah, your imaginary friend can keep you company!”

What she doesn’t know is that, when I was a child, I had a whole imaginary crew to keep me company. Despite being the youngest of five kids growing up in my house, I did a lot of playing on my own. Except, I didn’t sound like I was alone because I was usually talking to my good friend, Tommy. No one else could see or hear him, but he was very real to me. He even drove a red blazer!

I don’t know how I had time for Tommy though, because I was very busy raising my thirteen kids in the land of make-believe. Maybe I heard one too many nursery rhymes about women living in shoes, otherwise I have no clue where else that whopper of a storyline could have come from. Now I don’t think I ever blamed Tommy when I got in trouble, but people sure did start to wonder what his relationship was with my kids.

I overheard my daughter talking to herself the other day, so I peeked around the corner to see if maybe she had a Tommy of her own. She was dancing, jumping around, and laughing, so I thought it must be her imagination running wild in there! Then I heard another voice and realized she was on FaceTime with a friend. Strange as it seems, I was somewhat disappointed that I was wrong! Well, I’m not disappointed that her friends are not figments of her imagination, I just hope that she’s allowing her imagination to reach its full potential.

Around the same time that I was hanging out with Tommy, I was fascinated with the Disney character named Figment. He was a purple dragon-like creature who would put on a multitude of disguises and use his imagination to discover all sorts of things. Maybe Figment is why I still can’t make up my mind about who I want to be when I grow up. Why be one thing when you can be so much more (or at least pretend to be)?

Summer Lovin’

Jeanna GLeave a comment

I’m not a fan of summer. I do not like being hot. I like sweating even less. I would stay inside all summer, if I could, but my dogs, job, and the social responsibility of my yard make that impossible. The only thing that saves summer for me is the beach. I love the beach. As someone who promotes juvenescence, the beach is the perfect stage.

At the beach, being chill and taking naps is encouraged. There’s no powering through the day to be as productive as possible. The beach actually, naturally, works against any attempts at big adult thoughts. You start to have one and then —Sploosh! — a big wave takes you out. Then you try to have another one and —Yoo-Hoo! — calls that unique shell, half hiding in the sand. You’re about to contemplate something real adult-like and then — Swoosh! — a seagull flies by and steals that chip right out of your hand. Look! A ghost crab! And what just jumped out of the water? Did you see that? Ayeeee! Something slimy just brushed my leg!

Can’t concentrate, can you? It’s okay. Give in to the sound of the waves. Be mesmerized by the sun rays shimmering across the water. Let your most earnest query be, “Is that a buoy or a lighthouse in the distance?” Did you even realize you single-handedly built a mud castle while you watched that pelican dive for lunch? Who can spit their cherry seeds the farthest? Who can hold their handstand the longest in the waves? Go ahead, pretend you’re a mermaid or a pirate. Everyone’s doing it. Let go. Hakuna Matata. Live Aloha. But put on your sunscreen. Seriously. A sunburn will erase all the fun.