Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Fall 2016 | Page 19

T R A VE L

STARRY
STARRY
NIGHT
BY Grady M itchell

Dark Sky Preserves Renew
the Ancient Art of Stargazing
The universe is a big and lonely place. Luckily for us,
mankind has always had company. From the very start, we’ve
been able to look up and admire the stars. Although they’re
billions of miles away, their nightly shining helps shrink the
universe just a little bit. And so, for years beyond counting,
we’ve looked up and wondered at those lights in the sky.
They foretold the future. Told us when to sow seeds and
when to harvest them. When the rains would arrive and
when they’d depart. They guided our way unfailingly across
oceans and mountains. We used the stars to weave the stories
that helped us make sense of the world. But this generation
might be the first to look up into the night sky and see, well,
nothing at all.

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