It turns out I’m a big meteor shower guy. I have the Perseids (August) and the Geminids (December) circled on the calendar at the start of every year. At this point, my friends probably expect a text from me - reminding them to tilt their eyes to the night sky - for a promise of shooting stars. When I lived in Los Angeles I would gather up a posse, drive up the 405 for 45 minutes (you can go pretty far in 45 minutes at 10:30PM), and pull off in the middle of nowhere - a place that on any other night you wouldn't want to be- and take it all in.

Taking it all in is a nice way to put it because while I was attempting to catch the Perseids last week I had a realization - the shooting stars are only part of it. The real joy of the meteor shower is not in the light show - but in the moment. On my back, hammock enveloping me, phone on the grass, and my eyes towards the night sky - my focus is singular and my mission is clear. When you watch a meteor shower you’re not supposed to look at your phone. The light from the phone will pull you back down to earth and you’ll have to recalibrate your vision. Your eyes need to adjust to the night sky, or as a poet would say - the heavens. So when I strap for a meteor shower - I’m ready! Let’s see some fire balls. Come on Universe - show me something that’s going to make me pump my fist. Yeah Science! Yeah Astronomy! Yeah Space!

A map of light pollution in the world. The brighter the glow the harder to see the meteors!

But the truth is - you don’t always get a light show equal to your expectations - that’s life sometimes, though. What you do get is a respite from this crazy world. A time to gaze UPWARD toward the heavens in the hope of seeing something wonderful. These days everyone seems to know the quote “when you gaze into the abyss...the abyss gazes back,” which is nice and dark and terrifying but the difference in a meteor shower is that the abyss gives you an incredible light show of magnificent beauty. If gazing into the abyss is staring into the empty void of emptiness and bleakness - then gazing into a glorious starry night that dances in front of you is like staring at an amazing painting where you are constantly finding new details and surprises. Last week when I was catching the Persieds - I saw some meteors, noticed a satellite cascading across the sky, and even discovered that some stars...shimmer differently. Amazingly - I didn’t even take a picture of this.

Now I have no problem with amateur or advanced photographers who take pictures of the night sky - but what I love about meteor showers and I don’t think will last forever is that they’re hard as shit to capture on your phone. As mentioned, the act of photographing them with your phone would require your eyes to lose their night sky mode and since they’re unpredictable you’d need a long exposure. Whew, now that the photography lesson is done - let’s get to the main event - they’re hard to capture, they’re hard to contain for instagram- that makes them personal, that makes the foundation of ownable moments of wonder. Sure - Bob in some other valley may have seen the same one as you - but he didn’t see your exact spot while you were thinking about your friend from High School that you lost touch with. That meteor is yours! It’s not your phone. It’s not searching for likes on the gram. It’s purpose is to make you feel connected to the heavens above, and that’s a beautiful thing!