Impressions of the Milky Way

Sheila Henika

December 10, 2012

Kindergarten meant boredom and exploration. School - boring. Living in the Mojave Desert in the early 1970's - lots to explore. Whoever said the desert is barren has never seen it in the open expanses. Nothing describes this better than the night time panorama of the desert skies. In those days, there was little if no light pollution. My Dad would set up lawn chairs; yes, the aluminum type with the plastic strips that left lines on your legs and were so unstable one did not dare move. We would lie out and just stare at the light show. The stars were so bright and plentiful they felt like they surrounded me. Most impressive was the Milky Way. Defined with tiny pinpricks close together on the edges and large stars in the middle, one felt you could just stroll along the path like the Yellow Brick Road. All the Star Trek, Star Wars, SciFi books, and real life adventures in the world bring back visions of this glorious display. The Milky Way inspires dreams of space to this day.