The Silence of Space

WARNING!!! This blog does not contain any sex, alcohol, or scandal. It may even be considered boring to some who read it. Some may even consider it sentimental. Read at your own leisure.

This piece begins as I leave one of the most intense movies I have seen in a very long time, War of the Worlds. I must say, I was extremely impressed with what I saw. I won't go too into it, but one thing's for sure, when I make my list of favorite all time movie scenes the opening invasion sequence may very well crack the top ten, as few scenes in history have captured the mass horror and astonishment of a crowd like this one. Needless to say in this day and age, the effects were amazing, and the giant tripod alien vessels looked like they were right there among the people. The whole time I watched the scene I had one thought going through my head, and I'm sure many other people in the theatre shared this thought as well, "How fucking freaky would it be if this really happened, and I was right there?" It sincerely is hard to watch the scene and not have this thought cross your mind. Really made me hope all my beliefs in Aliens visiting us are completely false.

What took place after I returned from the movie was something that I have only experiences twice in my life, but I will get to that when I get to that. As I exited Christy's car (my movie going partner), I found myself looking to the sky, not so much in hopes (or fears) of seeing a UFO overhead, but in awe of the clarity in which the stars were showing themselves tonight. As I got to my apartment door I looked out at our pool and realized that there were literally 20 pool chairs turned star gazing posts right there in the waiting. It had never occurred to me before that such a relaxing and thought provoking activity was so thoroughly within a stone's throw from my bedroom window. Once I had made it into my room I put on a hoodie and embarked on what would prove to be a new and interesting trek around my apartment complex.

Upon reaching the pool I decided to head to the club house first in hopes of finally investigating the status of the hot-tub, and to my surprise it was not only up and running, but completely unlocked to boot. I entered and found that the entire building was open to any passerby, and I took the opportunity to hit the weight room for just a minute and do a few quick sets on the bench press. There is something extremely strange about working out at 2 AM in the darkness with the only audible sound the hum of a fan near the light above, almost as if was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be.

When I exited the clubhouse I decided on the spot to take a quick tour of the community (322 apartments in 40 buildings) on foot, something I have never done in the 11 months that I have lived here. It was intriguing to see just how much my star gazing was effected by each and every step as I approached one light and the left the last behind me. Eventually I ended up at the furtherest reaches to the South, where there is a tremendous amount of noise pollution coming from over the nearby hill. As I climbed the hill it was interesting to look out and realize there I was, only about 50 feet from the shoulder of I-94, probably the busiest road in the entire state of Michigan (statewide at least). I envisioned myself crossing the street on foot, mainly because who ever actually does that, but found that the extremely dense shrubbery i would have to embark upon to get there likely was not worth my trouble in the dark.

Having reached the far expanses of the community I decided it was finally time to head back to my originally planned destination, the pool, to achieve the uninterrupted star gazing I had imagined. On the way back I ended up walking alongside the pool that borders my apartment, and the sky was especially crisp here, as the nearest light was at least 50 paces away. I found myself startled by the sound of someone strumming a banjo, but figured that the bullfrog hadn't intended to frighten me at all in retrospect.

I finally reached the pool and dipped my finger in to test the temperature, and just as I had predicted, it was warmer than the very air that surrounded me. I went to the nearest bit of lawn furniture and adjusted it to my preferred angle, and the blank staring toward the night sky began. I located and confirmed all the constellations I know (all 2), and from there pin pointed the north star, and thought about how 100 years from now we won't have a north star anymore, thanks to mankind's heightened knowledge of gravity. Some stars twinkled, others remained constant, and finally one jumped across the entire night sky. Coincidentally, this being the first time I can ever remember sitting out specifically to watch the sky, I was greeted with a particularly bright shooting star. It was only the third I had seen my entire life, with the first two moments apart during a meteor shower a few years back while I was up late wandering through a camp ground.

Such a moment is fulfilling in ways hard to understand for one not there to experience it. It felt like that rock shoot across the ozone at that moment just to satisfy my need to see something special, something that could put into perspective just how insignificant but willing to aspire to greatest we here on Earth really are. That shooting star made me remember that I pity all those who lack imagination or a sense of adventure, those who would shun a trip to mars or dismiss a theory on the origin of our universe because without these childlike dreams we as humans loose what has made us great for thousands of years. The pursuit of technology has not served our species so much as a means to improve our quality of life, but moreso to spark our hidden desire to explore and learn all there is about that which engulfs us, so long as we always remember that the greatest truth to humanity lies in the fact that we will never have all the answers. I personally will settle for the excitement I feel exploring these same answers I will inevitably never find.