Day 12

I woke up early and went outside for a cigarette. The sun plays an interesting game with the Wallowa mountains from here. In the morning, with the sun shining bright upon them and no haze to speak of, they look like they're shooting up from the neighbor's backyard. So close you could walk there in a few moments.

In the evening, though, as the light changes angles, the mountains begin to move away from you, even seeming somehow smaller. And when the sun goes down, they disappear entirely. There is no light pollution or clouds for it to reflect from, and there is nothing to contrast black from black.

The stars, though, right as the mountains disappear, become the most brilliant I've ever seen. I can see the stretch of the Milky Way, pick out constellations I didn't even realize I recognized, and watch a veritable parade of shooting stars usually too faint to be noticed. There's not even a shower due. This is the normal and normally unnoticed sky.

I am not a religious person. But this, to me, is awesome in the religious sense of the world. This is greater than myself or my planet or my plans. This is where I came from. This is where we must, as a species, return if we desire immortality.

This is a place of dreams and wonder.