Curiouser and curiouser!

Photo from Unsplash; photographer, Jeremy Thomas

Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); `now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland --Lewis Carroll

Curiosity has been a lifelong friend. As I get older, this friendship has deepened. With my eyes on the sky, while watching fireworks on July 4th, I asked a family member if she had seen spectacular night displays on the many cruises she has taken. Nope. It turns out there is little star gazing on cruise ships, the lights from the ship block out the Milky Way.

What a disappointment. To me that would be a major attraction. I imagine myself sitting out on the deck at night, cooled by a gentle blowing breeze, gazing at millions of stars in the sky.

Two days later, as things often go for me, a post by a favorite blogger mentioned light pollution. She wrote about two towns who have become a mecca for stargazers, Westcliffe and Silver Cliff, Colorado. Both towns purposefully dimmed their towns' lights to decrease light pollution.

Now it seemed like light pollution had a hold on me. I decided to go further down the rabbit hole, I googled light pollution and found an interactive world light pollution map. You can look up your area here. Below is a view of the U.S.

There are a few other places places known for their night skies as shown in this short time-lapse video, Lost in Light, where the film maker sought out the darkest of locations.

Sky gazing at any time of the day is a form of mindfulness. Just the act of noticing cloud formations helps you connect to the natural world when you are feeling the stress of the unnatural world. Take a moment today to go outside and look up!