More from: My Time in Service.
I chuckled at the cartoon Sarge posted with the dinosaurs lying in the grass looking at clouds. And it brought back a long ago memory of one of the most beautiful night skies I ever saw. I was snuggled in a sleeping bag, in two feet of snow, on the top of Mauna Kea over in Hawaii.
So here is how that played out. They were building a new Telescope and Observatory up on the peak of Mauna Kea on the Big Island. Well, the Infantry training ground of Pohakuloa is up there too. We had been training for weeks, and the gave us a three day "Stand Down".
Most folks took a Deuce and Half down to either Hilo, or Kona. Not me. I talked a couple of buddies into hiking up to the peak and spending the night looking at sky that was as close to black velvet as you could get.
The first night, I only got two guys to go with me. They were only going to stay for a hour and head back. They ended up staying most of the night. Buried in our sleeping bags in little snow foxholes, we just lost count of how many Shooting Stars we saw. (Yes, I know they are meteorites, but Shooting Stars fits the mood better!).
The Milky Way is just like you see in posters! It is just breathtaking. So when we hiked back in the morning to the Quonset Huts to dry out our bags and get a hot breakfast. Well, word spread. The next night.. there were ten of us. And the view was just as fabulous as the night before.
The next night...and doggone if our Lieutenant hadn't talked to the other Officers. And almost a hundred men trudged up through the snow...and that ain't easy at altitude. We had Captains, a slew of Lieutenants, even a Full Bird! And gnarled old Senior Sergeants just laying there like little lumps of warmth...staring up at a sky that would make you believe in a God. For nothing human could be that pretty.
Of course now, well, not sure you can even do that anymore. I know you can drive up there and visit. Because the pictures I posted are when I tool some other Entertainers, and Kathy up to where I used to lay in the snow and look at the sky. The Observatory is finished now...but it is located pretty much where me and my buddies watched the night sky in awe.
I guess there are some places in Chile, and maybe up near Flagstaff, AZ, where you can get a similar viewing. I was lucky enough to get Hawaii!
When I took those pictures, it was 82 degrees at the Beach, and freezing at the peak. And that is another story.
I have seen beauty in many forms, but that diamond splatters, natural shrieking light show, in pitch black at 13,000 feet, with no air, and crystal clear view...well, that's hard to top.