Yesterday, Elaine over at Wild Rose Reader, shared an article called, "Astronomers catch a shooting star for the 1st time."
Anything abour astronomy always "catches" my eye. As a little girl, I dreamed of being the first woman astronaut (way,way before Sally Ride). When I was old enough, I joined the Air Force just so I could be around airplanes and hang out with the pilots.
So, when my sons were very young, they were a captive audience. I read them tons of books about the universe and space travel. My older son became especially interested and got his first telescope when he was still in elementary school. Almost every evening, no matter how hot or how cold, he'd take his telescope out, and he and his little brother looked at the constellations, and when they found something extra special, they'd call me to come take a look too.
Years ago, I wrote a poem about them, and Lee Bennett Hopkins liked it enough to include it in one of his anthologies. Later, it was made into a poster by a publisher of educational materials. Although the poem's written from the perspecitive of a younger brother admiring his older brother, I can hear both of my sons saying the last line about his brother.
Stars
Clear winter evenings
my brother sets up
his telescope in
the middle of the yard
and shows me the stars—
He says someday
he’ll discover a new one
and be famous—
But, I wonder
if he knows
he’s already a star—
to me.
It's no secret, they're both stars to me. My older son is now a physics professor who has also taught astronomy. He often writes about the universe on his blog: http://scienceatoz.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
My younger son is a writer and an IT specialist who is totally immersed in the world of technology. If you want to keep up on the latest, you can find his blog at:http://seccode.blogspot.com/.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely poem. I enjoyed reading about your sons. You must be very proud of them both.
My husband and I got a large telescope when my daughter was little. We used to take it on trips with us--to Cape Cod in Massachusetts and to Stowe, Vermont--places where there was less light pollution in the night sky. My husband also took Sara to a beach in our city in the wee hours of the morning over 20 years ago to see Halley's Comet.
Elaine,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Sara will always remember that. They grow up way too soon, don't they?
This is beautiful, Linda. So simple, so heartfelt, so powerful. Thank you for sharing it. Which LBJ anthology was it in? And how cool to have it made into a poster!
ReplyDeleteI love the stars and night sky. We hoped for some great sky-viewing in Scotland last year, away from light pollution, but the ever-present clouds put a kibosh on that!
Thanks, Laura. It was in a collection called Families, Families about 10 yrs. ago. It meant so much to me because it was truly about my sons.
ReplyDelete