Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

August 2, 2009  

Few sights stop my heart and capture my imagination more than the night sky. For as much redneck as there is in me, there is an equal amount of nerd. Astronomy has always been a hobby of mine, so much so that a picture of the known universe taken from the Hubble telescope has a prominent place on the wall of my office.
I’m thankful that I live far enough away from the city lights that I only need to take a few steps out of my back door to see more stars than I can count. Others are not so blessed. But even here sometimes the trees get in the way.
Which is why sometimes both circumstance and a yet to be fulfilled longing for escape sends me atop Afton mountain, the tallest peak of the Blue Ridge around here. There the stars seem close enough to touch and the moon appears as if it’s about to succumb to gravity.
One day, one fine day, I plan on building a cabin at the top of that mountain. Until then, I have to make due by climbing into my truck and driving there.
There are a lot of things you can learn about this world by staring up at others, and there are more you can learn by listening in on a conversation by two people staring up at them with you. That’s what happened to me recently. My eavesdropping paid off, too.
You can read about that conversation over at katdish’s blog. And do me a favor? Before you go to bed tonight, take a second to walk outside. Don’t look around. Look up.
Trust me.
Share and Enjoy:
  • Print this article!
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

Filed under: Uncategorized
Tagged:

Comments

  • Peter P

    Maybe the proceeds from your first book will build you that cabin!

    Great post, Billy. Thanks for reflecting God's light our way!

  • Anne L.B.

    True, that, about the stars, about the moon.

    For three years I lived up in the Rockies, not just next to them. Not a single night went by that I didn't look up into that rural, high-elevation sky in awe. I can never again look into a nighttime sky and not miss what the stars look like when seen through less of the earth's atmosphere. It's still my favorite view in Colorado.

    And there's no finer drive anywhere than with the ragtop down, a full moon up, and the headlights out for a few moments on a deserted mountain road.

  • Denise

    Wonderful post Billy.

  • katdish

    Sigh…

    Only a few short years ago, I could walk out my back door and see the stars. But 5 years and as many subdivisions later encircling our little piece of land, the nights where I can see the stars are rare. Bummer…

  • Sarah Salter

    I can be having the absolute most wretched day in history, but then I put the leash on the little brown dog and head out under the stars and it just redeems the day for me. I know exactly what you mean…

  • Lori

    Know what you mean. Living on the plains is a study in the vastness of creation and the One who made it.
    Keep up the God work.

  • Heart2Heart

    Billy,

    I love this post! I forget on Monday's I need to navigate away but it's always worth the story I find at the end of my search.

    I too want to be a light that reflects and not a light that shines!

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

  • Liz

    Cool. I will and I will.

  • April

    I miss being able to see the stars easily at night. We live in a very populated area outside of Atlanta…the country is calling me HOME!

  • FaithBarista Bonnie

    Oh, I love the stars and the mountains. Before I became a mom, and still single, able to hop in my jeep for the weekend, I would drive to the mountains. I'd wrap a fuzzy blanket around me and just stare at the skies until my cheeks got good and cold. Just like they were meant to be, I'm sure. I'd take a mountain cabin any day over a place out on the beach.

  • Jennifer

    Great reminder that we should seek to be moons versus stars. Good lesson for me to teach my own kids.

  • Annie

    This is the month Mars will debut. Tonight, though, the moon is full and is playing hide and seek with the clouds. Eerily beautiful!

  • I love Jesus

    Hey there. hehe i am a new reader and i am very much inspired by your blog. haha.
    How i wish when i look up into the sky i can see the stars.
    I live in Singapore, a place where the clouds are hovering above us at least 25 days a month, and where the light pollution is wow. it is high high high.
    how i wish i was as lucky as you, how i wish to experience what you've experienced. the closeness of the moon and the very high visibility of stars up atop the afton mountains.
    oh how i wish.

    thank you for your very fine post (:
    God bless!