"Mountain Day" by W.S. Merwin

Photo by VegaStar Carpentier Photographie

With one dear friend we go up the highest mountain

thousands of feet into the birdless snow

and listen to our breaths in the still air

for a long time beside the observatories

later we stretch out on the dark crumbled

lava slope looking

west at the sun yellowing the clouds below

then go down past the wild cows to the cabin

getting there just before sunset

and eat by the fire laughing at what we have

forgotten to bring

afterward we come out and lie

braided together looking up

at Cassiopeia over the foothill.

"Mountain Day" by W.S. Merwin from Collected Poems: 1952-1993. © The Library of America, 2013. 

"Choose Something Like a Star" by Robert Frost

Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

Mini-WASP array image captured by Greg Parker,

New Forest Observatory.

O Star (the fairest one in sight),

We grant your loftiness the right

To some obscurity of cloud—

It will not do to say of night,

Since dark is what brings out your light.

Some mystery becomes the proud.

But to be wholly taciturn

In your reserve is not allowed.

Say something to us we can learn

By heart and when alone repeat.

Say something! And it says, 'I burn.'

But say with what degree of heat.

Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.

Use language we can comprehend.

Tell us what elements you blend.

It gives us strangely little aid,

But does tell something in the end.

And steadfast as Keats' Eremite,

Not even stooping from its sphere,

It asks a little of us here.

It asks of us a certain height,

So when at times the mob is swayed

To carry praise or blame too far,

We may choose something like a star

To stay our minds on and be staid.

"Choose Something Like a Star" by Robert Frost, from Collected Poems, Prose & Plays. © The Library of America, 1995. 

I Love the Concept of a Winter Circle

From EarthSky: There are many bright stars near Jupiter in 2014. The planet lies in the midst of what we stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere know as the Winter Circle. This beautiful photo captured January 11, 2014 by EarthSky Facebook friend Duke Marsh in Kentucky. Thank you, Duke.

To Infinity--and Beyond

I've been keeping my eye on the night sky. I'm grateful that we live in a universe of light, and that light waves are not bounded by the division between night and day. And I find that a few minutes of gazing at the night sky definitely keeps things in proper perspective.

The Big Dipper continues to dominate the northern skyline, but it hangs lower and lower now.

And now it has been joined by the other giant constellation, Orion. A few weeks ago the Hunter was just showing his head and shoulders in the eastern sky, but now he strides in full view where he will remain throughout the winter.

A few weeks ago I took a shot of the Milky Way straight overhead. I was amazed and delighted to discover what happened when I elevated the exposure. Buzz Lightyear has it right: "To infinity--and beyond!"